Spark Atribulations
by LyricanWind
Summary: Two femmes meet under unusual circumstances, they rely on their Optimus' crew to help them surpass their obstacles as they come, be it ones of the mind or giant park rides gone amock. WARNING: Is based off an rp and will contain steamy romance.
1. Escape artists

Hello there, this is Windy and Lyrica speaking, welcome to our fanfiction. First we must warn you that this is edited from our long rpgs, there is a LOT to edit still, but we've got a ton written to last us ffquite a while.

beta read by someone on deviantart (esper isotopes)

This is an AV (alternate version) story mostly guided by OCs (original characters) although we do give a lot of highlight to the original TF characters as we go.

I'll start with the warnings:

Torture, violence, rape mentions, slash, sex scenes are included.

Pairings:

OCX? (at least 4 of them), HoundxMirage, JazzxProwlxOC, OptimusxElita, Ratchetx?, IronhidexChromia.

STORY TIME COMPARISONS:

**Breem - 10 cybertronion minutes**

**Groon- 1 cybertronion hour**

**Klik- 1 cybertronion minute**

**Nanoklik- 1 cybertronion second**

**Joor- 1 cybertronion day**

**Orn- 1 cybertronion month**

**Quartex – 1 cybertronian week**

**Vorn- 1 cybertronion year**

1 Vorn = 80 human years =29200 human days.

25 Orns = 1 vorn = 1168 human days = 1 orn

1 Orn = 16Quartex =73 days =1 quartex

Quartex=12 Joor = 6 human days = 1 joor

Joor =12 Groon = half human day = 1Groon

Groon = 50 klik = 10 human minutes = 1 klik

Klik = 20 nanoklik = 50 human seconds = 1nanoklik

"SPEAK"

'_BOND SPEAK'_

- COMM LINK-

* * *

********

****

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

From: 'P'

To: C

Been too busy and haven't had access to a decent terminal as of late. I'll be going silent again for a little while after this. Thought I might as well drop off these pics though. Don't be surprised if they aren't exactly the best in the world, I haven't exactly been in a good mood as of late. Friend's been accused of being a traitor and was recently forced to hightail it. What tick's me off is that he's been nothing but loyal to the cause. It's his fragging superior. He never liked him to begin with, claiming that he only attained his position by being a kiss-aft. If that were true, he'd have long been dead.(not to mention I'd want nothing to do with him)

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

****

****

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

From: C

To: 'P'

I'm sorry to hear about that, I hope your friend makes it back safely somehow. I'm sure that if he is as loyal as you say things can be cleared out. Sadly our faction lives of groveling and much waxing, and at times fails to see true potential in us. Hopefully your friend will not befall to these faults.

As for the pictures, thank you so much! Even if they were the most smudged thing in the universe I still enjoy them! :3

I do hope things go well on your new mission, and that you finish it quickly so that we can have more of our interesting chats.

Mindgriever himself has been very antsy lately and closing himself to his troops, I hear even his daughter is having a hard time finding out what is wrong with him. I can only guess this means we will be moving into some plan of his soon enough.

****

********

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

****

From: 'P'

To: C

Mindgriever, huh? I know you're loyal to him and all that, but honestly, I really hate that guy.I don't trust him. Though admittedly, part of it might be his association with another mech. Offer still stands if you wanna dump him and his crew and be transferred somewhere less confining. No offense, but from what I've been able to pick out, he basically keeps you as a prisoner despite what he says. Someone that protective obviously has something to hide that they don't want the other finding out.

Then again, I suppose I'm not free to do as I like either. At least, not completely. Still, I certainly have a lot more then the regular Con. Something I'm going to take advantage of. Lord Megatron's been dancing around the issue concerning my friend and has yet to take effective measures to return him safely to us. I realize that he's got his own stuff to do, but he hasn't even moved to punish the one responsible for my friend's retreat! (His excuse being that he still requires the fat mech to complete some task and doesn't want anything ruining that) I'm gonna be stomping my pede down after I'm done with my mission and demand he takes charge of the issue.

In other news, it seems that the crew here has spotted an escape pod. Looks like it's one of ours. They're on their way to retrieving it now.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

********

****

****

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

****

From: C

To: 'P'

Ah...^.^' it really isn't that bad here...sometimes it is better not to know things.

And should you really speak of Lord Megatron that way? Or even react the way you say you do. I understand you have high standards but showing concern is many times seen as a weakness...particularly by him. Besides, the higher you are in command, the more trouble you get.

And an escape pod? Well that certainly isn't one of ours, we're still fixing them from last battle.

****

****

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

****

From: 'P'

To: C

I am well aware of the fact that Lord Megatron highly disapproves of such...concerns and anything that would reflect the characteristics of one of those filthy Autobots. Any Decepticon would. And while essentially every member of our faction is only out for themselves, there have been those that have at least some small level of kinship among each other. Not even my Lord Soundwave is exempt from this. His casseticons are proof of that.

Besides, I've good reason to support my comrade. I would not be who I am today were it not for him. My drive for the cause would hardly be as strong, if I remained alive up to this point.

At first my drive was from my Lord Soundwave and Lord Shockwave, but their presence in my life dwindled after only spending so little time with them after our first meeting. While they're reasons and purposes were the same as my comrade, it wasn't them that were around to teach me what it means to be a Decepticon. Megatron is aware of this.

Aside from that, Megatron tends to be rather...tolerant when dealing with me. You'd probably find it rather disturbing but sometimes he will even take on an almost fatherly tone with me. Sometimes, he will even counsel me on some matters if for some reason I feel uncertain about something. And unlike with others, he doesn't go screaming or taking out his frustration on me. (although part of that might be because I make a point to converse in a respectful manner and refrain from talking back) Don't get me wrong, I take none of these things for granted, nor do I intend to abuse these privileges.

****

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

**From: C **

**To: 'P'**

**Do be careful my friend, you tread dangerous waters.**

**Once again, thank you for taking your time to actually get me some visuals of the outside world, I would have eventually gone insane were it not for you.**

**Now, I believe you need some rest before your mission, and I myself have an appointment with our medic. I'm afraid I've been taken a little bit ill as of late, but nothing to fret about I'm sure.**

**All the best wishes, ****C**.

****

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

******************************Date: _ERROR_**

From: 'P'

To: C

Kay, just make sure your boss gives you some elbow room. Hope you feel better. As usual, make sure to delete these messages. (or ensure they aren't opened or found) Damn Autobots are making it hard to breath nowadays and I certainly don't intend to give them any leads. Not that they'd be able to find out who I really am by asking you.

****

'P'

* * *

Space.

It was an infinite abyss of many things; species, planets, wars, stars, but most of all, what it held, was silence... peaceful yet unsettling silence. Even if there were sound, it would still seem like it was actually quiet. This was one of the few things Prowl liked about space, and it was what many times calmed him down when he needed a short break from his work.

It had been nearly 10 Vorns since the war had officially started, although of course, as many from his time knew, it began much, much sooner than that.

The destruction of their planet was a heavy toll on all of them, Autobot and Decepticon alike. All that was left for them, was hope. Hope that some survived Megatron's insane attempts to stop them from leaving the planet. Hope that someday all this conflict and torture would end...Hope that the future generations would maybe, someday, have a safe place to grow up in, far from cruelty and destruction.

His processor wandered for a while in memories, trying for the millionth time to see where they went wrong, what could be done to correct it, what measures to take...how far would they go? His thoughts continued flowing like an unending river as he watched through the window the stars that passed by. The river came to a pause at the sound of light rhythmic footsteps. Prowl continued to stare through the glass outside, however.

"We're gainin' on them, Prowler. Just a couple more cycles an' they'll be within sight. I've already got everyone preparin'." Jazz said, folding his arms and standing beside the tactician."This con ship...you said it might have that spy onboard, right? How exactly are we gonna handle that one if it is? According to previous encounters, he or she is able to infect someone with a virus just by touchin' em."

Prowl's unemotional gaze remained fixed on the stars outside.

"Good...make sure they're ready...I believe our battle might start sooner than we expect "he said, his optics glinting slightly, giving Jazz a look only he could read.

"Of course...but ya still haven't answered my question...what do we do if we run into that spy? We don't have anything that can effectively counter those viruses." The saboteur said with his visor dimming.

"Avoid direct contact at all costs logically...depending on our situation we'll have to try and trap it. A spy this powerful is too great a risk to let wander at will..."

Jazz let out a sigh.

"Right. Well, you take care then. I'll go give Prime the status report, as well as make sure our mechs are doin' what they're supposed to. And when I mean take care, I'm serious Prowl. This one might actually try gunnin' for ya." He said unfolding his arms, his lips pursing into a thin line.

"While your concern is appreciated, it is not necessary. I am well aware of every potential target within the Ark, including myself." He said turning back to his office, his door wings held high in a discrete and subtle display of his confidence and pride.

* * *

"For the millionth time, I'M SORRY. Need me to spell it out for you? S-O-R-R-Y. Saar-ee. Sorry. How long are you going to be like this?" Sideswipe said from his spot in the dark and disgusting cell while Sunstreaker glared at him from the opposite side.

Despite all his apologies, Sunstreaker did not relent. This was embarrassing for Primus sake! Him! Stuck in a filthy, disgusting, Decepticon cell! All because his own twin couldn't watch his own back! He mentally grumbled to himself, only stopping when his sensitive fins caught the sounds of voices from the other end of the brig. Sideswipe, sensing his attentiveness, went quiet. They were dragging something in, it sounded heavy, and they made that clear through their complaining.

"I'm telling you, if we use the torture scalpels it will open much easier!" a small bot said to his partner.

"Where's the fun in that? I say we go for the explosive gel to open it. We can use those after we get the prize inside." Said the other. Both the twins narrowed their optics.

The other looked at his partner oddly.

"You're either demented or ignorant, there're things much more interesting we can do with an Autobot femme other than the regular routine of torture" he said smugly.

"I, for one, like do to a little damage before going for a midnight dance lesson." The other said chuckling deeply.

"Oh? I was thinking more like showing these bunch of losers what we do to their so called hopes" he said giving the twins a cocky grin as they passed their cell. Through the glass of the pod they could spot the female body inside, though badly torn up and wounded, the autobot symbol was displayed proudly on its almost bare chassis.

Sideswipe growled. "Say that to me up close and personal you ugly sodding piece of slag." He said darkly as he approached the lasers bars of the cell. The two Decepticons snickered, pulling the escape pod the rest of the way, Sunstreaker watched them quietly with a dark look, his feelings matching his brother's.

"Maybe we can do both things at the same time right in front of them" they carried on. "You beat her, I frag her. Right in the middle of the hall. I'm sure Bastillion wouldn't mind" they laughed at the idea, entertained with themselves.

"Just keep talking, thin stick! Once we're out of here, you can bet that ripping you both apart is the first thing I'll do!" Sideswipe yelled after them.

The two mechs simply brushed him off, their smiles not disappearing. They had to leave the escape pod in the hall because it wouldn't fit through the door, but they were soon covering a section of it with the explosive gel and set to open the darn thing.

_'Frag it, Sunny, what do we do? We can't just sit here!'_ Sideswipe said looking warily to his brother.

_'I'm thinking...tch...what is taking Prime so long? They should have met up with us by now...'_ the golden warrior said getting to his pedes as well as his optics re-evaluated their cell carefully.

A small explosion and a few streams of smoke were enough indications that the mechs had opened the pod. The twins could hear their eager chuckles as they moved to inspect its interior.

"Oooo! Its pretty beaten up, but it's a good one!"

"Yeah...looks like we'll have to skip right to the dance lesson. Oh well."

Suddenly there were sounds of the other prisoners getting up and getting to the edge of their cells. They started protesting and yelling out at the two cons angrily as they started to touch the femme in places they shouldn't. Some even dared to go thrashing into the laser bars of their cells.

"Keep your disgusting servos off her!"

"Frag me instead! I swing both ways!"

"You won't get away with this!"

"I'm gonna mount your afts on the wall of my room when I get out of here!"

They dragged the semi-conscious body to the middle of the hall, one of them kicking her on the side to turn her around.

"I say we can still beat her up a bit...she's still kicking after all," the small on said grabbing one of the femme's arms and twisting it in an unnatural direction, making her instinctively try to scream even though all that came out was static. The joint in her elbow popped unpleasantly. The other mech joined him, grabbing the other arm. Although instead of twisting it, he forced her hand to touch his chassis in ways that seemed to please him.

"You like that don't you?" he teased the femme. Her optics narrowed in pain as she couldn't bare to look at the various prisoners just watching that. The other proceeded to do the same with her achingly broken arm.

"You sick fraggers! You're dead! You hear me!" shouted one of the prisoners who's cell was getting a front row seat to the terrible show.

"Fight them! You have to fight them!"

"Yeah! Come on! Whack 'em! Do something!"

"You're gonna be iron shavings once we're outta here, decepticons!"

"Unicron nor Primus hath no fury as scary as a femme! Now beat those slaggers! Tear them apart!"

The whole brig was starting to go into an all out rage.

Their shouts only seemed to entice the two Decepticons, one moving down, digging his face into her neck, earning himself a gasp-like sob. The other kept up with her broken arm, forcing it to roam his metal. The bots became more and more riled up, but nothing they said seemed to do anything, until with a flicker and strange sound, all lights went out.

"Hey! What the slag?" one of the torturers shouted in alarm. The silence that met him was deafening as the realization hit every single spark in that brig...the laser cells were off...but more importantly, there was a hum of a cannon. The last thing the first Con would see was the fire erupting his head into bits, flying everywhere with violence.

The femme's other captor stared on in horror at her cannon, his red optics bright and pale in the darkness even when the hum of her weapon went silent. Angry blue optics flashed brightly as they stared on at their prey. They immediately started rushing out of their cells to the Decepticon who dropped the femme and tried to run. It was a futile attempt. They immediately preyed upon him in a furious assault.

"Get his key codes!"

"I call dibs on his weapons!"

"Forget that! I call dibs on being the first to give him a knuckle sandwich!"

"Too late for that!"

Before others could join in on the Decepticon guard's punishment, the doors to the brig hissed open to reveal security drones as well as more shocked guards.

"Whoo! It's party time now!" One of the prisoners yelled.

Those whose cells were near the entrance immediately rushed them before they could act and rid them of their weapons. Meanwhile in the other end of the hall the twins had taken to being among a whole lot of others to crowd the injured femme. Only instead, they had ushered them to move away and give her space.

The grey female sat up shakily, staring at the floor with her face shadowed. Faltering and flinching with every move she slowly got back on her feet and managed to go still, her feet completely stable and immobile, she kept glaring at the floor. Before anyone could realize it, her body started smoking, a few mechs tried to approach her gently, thinking she was probably malfunctioning until her entire body burst into flame, though she seemed unaffected and it was continuous.

"Hey, what's she doin'? We're on her side!" One mech said backing away.

"Considering the circumstances I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't aware of it. She's probably a bit loony" another said grimly.

"Just shut up, guys, and give her space." Sideswipe said.

The femme turned on her feet half-balanced, swinging a bit. Her actions did not go unnoticed by the other prisoners but they certainly didn't pause in their fighting the cell guards and drones that kept coming in.

"Cavalry is here boys! Ark's invading the ship now as we speak! Saw the boarding dock jammed into the ship!" someone said from the exit.

A mech carefully approached the femme whose flames were finally dying down as her form sagged and began to fail at standing. Cautious not to be attacked himself he picked her up with ease considering he was one of the tallest around.

"Come on! The ways been cleared up! Grab what you can off the cons! The one's that managed to get weapons, make sure to cover those that didn't! " Sunstreaker called over them, noticing the lack of enemies coming through. As the mech holding the femme carried her on their back, her body went limp. Her form was incredibly light not forcing him to do any strenuous movements.

Others made a circle formation around the two, the twins taking up guarding the front of the circle. The prisoners didn't have to go very far until they found where the rest of the Autobots breaking into the ship and taking down any Cons in their way.

"Well, well, looks like the prison break started without us!" Ironhide said smiling as he let off a burst of rounds from his rifle.

"Course they did, 'Hide! We did cut the power after all!" Jazz said alongside him. "Everybody, give the prisoners cover!" The mechs without weapons hurried ahead under the cover fire, hoping to get back on the Ark as soon as possible.

The mech that carried the mangled femme stopped briefly by the weapons specialist and TIC "Did you bring any medibots with you?" he said looking back to keep an optic out for any incoming glanced at them before abruptly shooting another Con. He had questions but now wasn't the time.

"CMO should be 'round back near the dock hatch! Now get yourselves outta here!" Jazz answered. He stopped the twins however. "You two are with me, we're headed for the main bridge!" He said kicking up some weapons from the dead soldiers and tossing them to the two mechs. The two nodded in unison, dead set expressions on their faceplates as they followed after the quick footed saboteur.

As they headed around the corner, a group of drones and soldiers blocked the path. While the twins took cover against the corner wall, Jazz went dashing ahead, dodging the heat of their guns with stunning grace and acrobatics. As he came near he suddenly jumped and started running along the wall past their group to the rear and started taking down the stunned foes.

"Time to shine, Sunshine!" Sideswipe said as he went back round the corner again and started firing his shots while rushing the Cons. Sunstreaker growled

"How many times do I have to tell you? Its SUNSTREAKER! S-U-N-S-T-R-E-A-K-E-R!" he said as they ran forwards into the crossfire, ramming against enemies with enough force to knock them out. "HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO MEMORIZE THAT?"

He proceeded to show how much it irked him by ripping off the head of a drone and throwing it at his brother's own helm. Sideswipe however, ducked just in time, letting the drone's head hit a bull's-eye into the last Cons face, knocking him out.

"Nice one, Sunny."

"I missed" he said dryly, glaring at his brother with promise of a never ending punishment. Sideswipe smiled looking at the smashed face of the soldier on the floor.

"Nah, I'd say you got him pretty good."

"On your pedes, mechs. We potentially got a major threat onboard this ship." Jazz said waving the two to follow him.

Sunstreaker gave his brother another glare.

_'Don't screw this up again'_ he scolded him, it didn't help they were there in the first place because of him.

_'Hey, I said I was sorry, didn't I?'_ Sideswipe going into an annoyed look as they started following the third in command.

Sunstreaker would have argued further had they not just gotten a warning of a threat. He was annoyed yes, but his concern for himself and his brother was higher than that. Sideswipe snorted at him as they drew near the door. They braced themselves as they opened the door and hugged against the wall to avoid the sudden shots of gunfire that came at them. Jazz immediately threw out a flash grenade, blinding their foes. He then went rushing in with a jump and landing his foot on one of their faces before getting his pedes on the floor again.

The two mechs followed suit, smashing their way through, not even bothering to waste any of their gunfire since the enemy was temporarily blind from the flash grenade.

Twisting the neck of his enemy until he was offline, Jazz hurried over to the main computer of the ship and immediately set to hack it.

"Cover me while I tap into this thing. No doubt that more will be coming through here."

"Right." the two said getting in position.

Off to their right another door opened where they immediately open fired at the security drones that came in. It was like an all out brawl that came afterwards as more kept flooding in. Eventually they had to resort to using their guns as clubs to take out the sparkless security.

"Just take your time, why don't you?" Sideswipe growled to Jazz.

"Believe me, I'm TRYING. This thing's code is whacked up like you wouldn't believe!" Jazz said as he kicked away a drone that crawled his way. A beep then sounded as suddenly all the drones that had been crowding them offlined, falling limp. "That better?"

"About time" Sunstreaker huffed kicking one of the offline drones out of annoyance.

"Right..."Jazz said going back to his work. His optics widened underneath his visor as he jerked himself away from the console, ripping out the cables he connected himself to before the screen starting going on the fritz and shorting out.

"What? You got shocked or something?" Sideswipe asked trying to put in some humour. Jazz gritted his dental plates before answering only to be interrupted.

"I can assure you, he would've gotten more then just a shock if he hadn't pulled out in time." Said a distorted voice from the shadows in the room. Jazz's optics brightened.

"Sideswipe move!"

Before Sideswipe could react Sunstreaker tackled him away from his spot where a black and hazy form suddenly moved to attack. It proceeded to rush at Jazz who was suddenly engaged in a dance of dodging the foe's attacks. Jazz grunted as the dark phantom's optics narrowed at him. He began launching attacks of his own, dropping down to sweep his feet.

The disguised Decepticon did a flip, evaded the move and landed behind the saboteur. He wrapped his arms around his torso then lifted him up and bent backwards, slamming his head on the floor before letting go.

Before Jazz's assaulter could do anything else he was forced to dodge Sunstreaker who suddenly leapt into the fray, throwing hard punches of his own. Sideswipe followed shortly after him and decided hitting low with a kick. With precise timing and movement the spy jumped and angled his body horizontally, narrowly missing the attacks before landing on his feet and doing a harsh spinning kick on the two, sending them on their backs.

Their distraction was enough though, as Jazz was able to get back on his feet, albeit with a cracked visor. He didn't give time for his enemy to go for the twins as he engaged the mass of black fog again.

While fighting he did his best to take in whatever information he could, noting the skill, the strength...the spy's small and lithe size...how he must have been using a vocal-processor-distorter...he couldn't quite make his exact form however due to the ominous disguise...He had to keep focus on the fight though.

The twins got themselves up ready to move in only to be told to keep their distance by the saboteur, much to their displeasure. As Jazz made to strike, the viral spy back-flipped a short distance then charged at him with an outreached fist. Jazz instantly raised his arms to block, but through the short moments his visor caught on to the red glow that came from his opponent's forearm, his fist turning into an open hand. He barely moved in time. There was a quiet snort from the dark assassin that only Jazz heard as he swiftly exited through the door.

"Follow that spy! Don't let him get away!" Jazz said running after him.

The trio transformed and raced after the running spy, their engines roaring. Turning the corner however they came to an abrupt stop as they found the black ghost to be already gone.

"What the frag? We were practically right up to him before he turned the corner!" Sideswipe snarled. Jazz transformed pointing at the vent and jumping in to find the ventilation cut open. He quickly followed the vent a ways to find that it led to the outside of the unmoving ship...The spy running across it's top and leaping onto the Arks roof.

-Prime, Prowl, spy's on the roof of the Ark!- He called through his comm. link as the spy's red glowing hands glided on the ships surface, causing havoc to the ship's systems. Jazz went racing across over to the Ark himself as he saw the spy forcing the a top hatch open and jumping through. He cursed. -Nevermind! He's going through hatch 3!-

-Acknowledged Jazz, we'll take care of it from here, make sure every one of our bots gets back to safety first.- Prime's voice told him.

-I got the evacuation covered, Prime! Go ahead and keep going on yer end, Jazz! Get that fragger!- Ironhide said through the comm. link.

-Thanks 'Hide, I will!- He said sprinting on and delving into the hatch to follow the Con's trail. He cursed as he found mechs knocked out in the hallway. Turning the corner he finally spotted the target again, going through the door to the bridge's security like nothing with that accursed touch of his hand.

Jazz launched himself at the spy, the two crashing and rolling past the doorway into the bridge where Teletraan was and went about pinning down the spy's wrists to the floor.

"I don't think so, buddy!" He said as those within surround the two. With a grunt the spy narrowed his optics angrily at the Saboteur.

However he had one more trick up his sleeve, much to the Autobot's ire as lavender whips shot from his palms into the mechs face, causing him to falter and be kicked off. With fast speed, the spy flipped onto his feet, the ribbons on his hands gaining length. He spun around in a fashion and before they all knew it, he had gotten everyone except Jazz trapped in a glowing web, unable to move.

Immediately the spy started towards Teletraan only to pause and jump into the air, doing a spinning kick towards what seemed like nothing. The sound of metal hitting metal filled the air followed by something crashing to the floor, the familiar form of Mirage flickering into view trying to recover from the harsh kick.

Jazz got up from the floor and placed himself between the spy and the computer. He would have been using his gun if he didn't risk hitting another as well as harming the Ark's systems.

The spy growled at him, his red optics flickering dangerously. Immediately they went back to fists and kicks, spins, flips and jumps. What Jazz had over the spy in reach, the foe made up for in extreme flexibility. Again they soon found themselves crashing on the ground and rolling on the floor, coming dangerously near the computer. That was when the spy had had enough. With strong legs, he pushed Jazz off and whipped his hand at the computer, the ribbons materializing from his hand and latching on the computer's screen, making it immediately light up and start going on the fritz.

"NO!" Jazz body slammed the spy but he only kept going. That is until an axe came flying through the doorway, cutting the lines from the spy's hands and shattering the screen, the computer going into emergency shutdown from the attack before it lost it's data. The spy froze in his place, his optics going dark...slowly. He looked towards the doorway, an imposing red and blue form. Jazz noted the emotion that filled the spy's optics even as his leader pointed his plasma rifle at him. His form going stiff and trembling at the same time but not in fear...no...It was in anger. Before he even knew it, he was shoved back away with a strength he didn't think was possible for the spy to possess, and sent crashing to the side...his form stuck in the wall.

"Don't move. There's no where for you to run." Optimus said with his finger dangerously close to pressing the trigger. The anger in the spy's optics only seemed to grow.

"Bastard...Don't go acting like you're some messiah of peace and justice! You're no better then me or any other Decepticon!" His distorted voice seethed in anger.

"Stand down Decepticon," Optimus's calm yet war hardened voice demanded, his grip on his weapon steady. "If you don't abide, I'll give permission to all my soldiers to kill you, by now everybot knows you're here, all exits are sealed and halls heavily guarded."

The spy's anger grew into bitter amusement. He started chuckling lightly, the volume of his voice steadily growing louder until it broke into an all out bitter laugh. It stopped abruptly however as his optics went back to showing anger.

"Don't be so sure of yourself. Did you really think I'd go infiltrating the Ark like this without thinking ahead? That I would go breaking in all loudly with such a large show with nothing to back me up?" Optimus stood quiet, his mask making it impossible to tell his emotions. The dark phantom grunted. "Yeah...that's what I thought. I've already done what I had to. Would've done more, but turns out you got lucky. Now unless you want the fallen mechs you came past on your way here to die, I suggest you let me out of here without a fuss. Or would you really like to see your own soldiers pull the trigger on themselves...?" He said folding his arms. Inside the hallway behind the leader the humming and clicks of guns at the ready could be heard.

Optimus barely looked behind himself, giving them only a glance from the corner of the optics, not wanting to lose the spy from sight. His optics flickered when he saw his soldiers pointing their guns to their own heads, his friends, his children practically. his grip on his weapon tightened, that being the only small sign of anger from him.

"How do I know you won't kill them anyway if I let you loose?

"To be honest, I'd rather kill YOU..." he started as one of the mechs pointed a gun at the Prime's head. Optimus didn't make any move to defend himself or to take down his soldier.

"Then why don't you?"Red optics narrowed.

"...For what you've done to me and my brethren..." The mechs weapon lowered. "...That would be too easy...too soft. A mercy. Even now, if I were to take you as my own hostage...it would be too easy..." The spy growled with his optics darkening.

"I have done many wrongs, all of them I wish I could go back on, but every single one of them I did to protect those who were being mercilessly killed by the Decepticons," he said resolutely. This only seemed to anger the spy further.

"Yeah right...You've done far worse than whatever we've done..." He said with fists clenching. "And I'll never forgive you for it..." He said darkly as he started walking towards the Prime.

"If your grudge is against me, then focus on me, not on my soldiers. They have little to do with my choices." The Prime said just as he passed him.

"While the offer is tempting...I'm afraid my loyalty and orders override that. I'll do what I need to so that I can fulfill that. And right now, I can't let myself get caught. Trust me, all I want is to tear you apart and subject you to what you've done." He said with venom in his voice as he kept walking. "And as for your question; you have my word that they will receive no harm...Being a Decepticon, this may not mean much considering...but unlike my brethren, I keep to my word. That being said, I don't make promises all that often. "

Optimus said nothing as the spy reluctantly went past him, keeping a stern optic on him. Once out of his sight, the Prime immediately alerted all to the hostage situation, making them stand down. The phantom gave those he past a taunting look, unaffected by the glares and insults that were given out. It wasn't until he was out of sight and hearing range that the spy let out a scream of frustration transforming and going on it's way through space.

* * *

Optimus entered the medbay, most of his soldiers jumping at attention automatically. He made a gesture with his hand to calm them down

"At ease, I'm merely here to see how things are going..." his optics quickly searched for the red and white CMO.

The Autobot leader was quickly able to sift through all the medics in the room and find the Chief Medical Officer due to his loud cursing and griping.

"Next time you go getting you're leg blown off, Dabble, I'm gonna have you rebuild your leg all on your own! Not even the twins have gone through as many body parts as you have legs!"

"Hey! We don't get blown apart that often!" Sideswipe said from the other side of the medbay.

Optimus had to chuckle as he made his way over to him, the blue minibot embarrassed at his own fault.

"Ratchet, go easy on the mech. What's the situation on our wounded?" he said giving another glance around. Ratchet gave a huff, giving one last glare at the mech before facing the leader.

"No one's been critically injured and only a few lost a limb or two. Well, everyone except for a certain femme. But she should be alright...the real problem is cleaning out the systems of those that somehow got controlled by that spy..." He said looking off to a certain section of the room. The mechs there shifted uncomfortably, more specifically the ones who had been under control.

"We have a femme on board?" The Prime asked mildly surprised. Ratchet shook his helm.

"Figured that's all you'd hear...Yes, a femme. According to the twins as well as many others the 'Cons grabbed her up in a Decepticon ships escape pod. She hasn't woken up quite yet." He said folding his arms.

"In a Decepticon escape pod? But she wasn't a Decepticon?" He asked, upon the medic's nod the Prime only seemed more intrigued. "Anyway, you were saying about the infected mechs...? Is there anything we can do to help them?"

"Well, yes...but it's going to take a long time. The style of coding that the spy uses makes it difficult for me and my senior staff members. All junior staff doesn't even have a chance at trying to formulate an anti-virus against this. Thankfully, the purpose of this virus was only to control and not to harm them...but we can't just leave it lying around or it could reactivate upon command..."

"I see... do what you can for them." Optimus said glancing at the mechs worriedly "We were lucky this time that our foe did not intend to harm them."

"Of course...but I recommend that we find some way to counter this spy before he manages to do some serious damage...not that he hasn't already..." Ratchet said as his expression grew dark.

"I'll have bots working on it as soon as possible... Wheeljack will undoubtedly need the coding samples of what exactly hit them though."

"Sure thing, but I'm warning you, some of the medics ended up getting themselves infected. Make sure they're careful. And if you want to talk to Jazz, I have him set up in a private room next to the femme's. He's not in critical condition but being engraved into the wall sure put him out of it. That and having his head smashed with some wrestler move I can't remember the name of."

Optimus nodded "Thank you Ratchet, I'll go see if he's awake." he said turning away to the private rooms.

"Might wanna check up on the femme too..." Ratchet said as he went back to working.

Optimus merely nodded. He went to Jazz's room first, intent on getting a more accurate report, but to his disappointment the mech was unconscious at that time, so instead he went to check on the femme.

Quietly he allowed the door to hiss open and stepped in, trying to not make any loud sounds as he made his way to the side of the femme's berth. He looked her over, noting the loss of colour and injuries. Something in his spark told him of something was familiar about this femme though he didn't know what it was. He wondered what she had been through and if perhaps she had any revelation as to what the status was of the Femme Contingent that had long gone into hiding… He shook his helm, right now she was recharging, and like Jazz, he would not disturb her. He shifted on his pedes, facing towards the door, giving the femme one more long look.

The femme's optic lids twitched lightly although they remained closed, the readings of her spark were picking up a bit, going at a fast dance-like rhythm. He observed a bit more attentively, expecting her to wake up, however after a few seconds of nothing more than light twitches his hopes fell. He was just about to leave when her voice startled him.

"It's kind of hard to recharge when you have somebot staring at you so much" Her voice was so hoarse and scratchy, he almost didn't recognize it. He faced her again, his optics brightening.

"Ashbringer...?"

"I'd like to believe so..." she said onlining her optics dimly, one of them flickered every three nanokliks. He went by her side again, his hand moving to pet her head gently.

"I haven't seen you in so long...I would ask how you are doing...but that would be rather ignorant of me...You don't need to worry though...you're safe now..." He said to her gently.

"Right...that's what I've been hearin' all my life, no offense..." her optics focused and unfocused, "I suppose you're here because of the Femme Contingent?" her voice hitched a bit with the effort she was putting to it.

"It wasn't the first thing that came to mind...and I won't be asking until you're feeling better..." He said still petting her gently.

Her optics dimmed further "I don't know anything. I haven't seen them for Vorns" she admitted shutting them off. "I ran away..."He remained silent for a long moment. In truth, he had already known about that fact.

"When you're better, I'd like to know what happened...if you'll tell me. I won't force you. Neither will I force you to stay on the that is your wish." He said to her after a while. "But Flamer, I'd like you to consider staying, at least for the time being.

She let out a sigh "I don't got much of a choice there...I can barely feel my legs...the whole thing had to be operated on and I still didn't regain feeling from it...though I kind of lost track of time..."

"Don't worry, Ratchet and the others will fix you right up..." He said pulling up a seat beside her. "Are you thirsty? Would you like me to get something?" He said gently taking her hand.

"I'm fine "she said in a familiar childish tone. "Or in case you didn't notice, those things dangling above my head are called feeds, and they're used for feeding the patient directly into...ah you know what I mean "she joked.

He gave a light chuckle. "I see you haven't changed..."

Her expression shifted almost immediately to a disappointed one at that. "Didn't I...? Wonder why that is..."

"Well, essentially you haven't...You're still as stubborn as ever."

"And slagging proud of it," she said with a snort only to be interrupted by a cough of her own throat.

Again he gave a light chuckle. "Of course. I wouldn't know who you are without it. It's one of you're defining features. "He said patting her hand.

She pouted childishly at that "You wouldn't say that if you knew a few other bots of my choosing" she grumbled mostly to herself.

His optics creased showing he was smiling underneath his protective faceplate. "Being passionate is also another feature. As well as how strong your perseverance is. You never stop, no matter how hard things get for you." he said petting her helm once again.

Her cheeks tinted a bit with pink "Now you're just waxing my metal, its not gonna convince me to forgive you though. I'm still mad."

"I know...but it's my hope that you'll allow me a chance to redeem myself...and that you'll accept my apology someday..." He said his tone somewhat sad. "I won't make anymore excuses or explanations...You're already aware of them all, and no doubt only become more upset with each one that is given to you..."

"One shouldn't ask for forgiveness. He should avoid it at all costs, so that it will never error." she said calmly. "Or so they said...errors can be painful and harsh and even unfair, but they are what end up defining us. I am only alive because of those mistakes."

He raised an optic ridge. "It seems you have changed at least a little. I don't think I've ever heard such sagely wisdom from you before...You've matured, Ashbringer."

"Pft...Hardly...I'm just repeating words from the guys" she shrugged, but ended up wincing at the movement with a hiss.

"I seem to recall you not listening much to such things. Or at least falling asleep while hearing them." He said as he rested a hand on her shoulders to still her movement.

She was quiet for a moment "It was different...sort of."

"The verdict remains all the same. You've matured." He said.

Her blush returned "Is that even a good thing?"

"I suppose that would depend on one's perspective. I cannot speak for you or the others but in my view, I would say that it has, young one." He said in a positive and encouraging tone.

"R-right..."she said sounding like her voice was fading; her spark readings were going back to the normal rhythm steadily. They two remained silent for a long moment before the Prime shifted in his seat.

"Would you be opposed to me informing your friends that you're here?"

She onlined one of her optics to look at him, her spark giving off a higher set of energy "Is my brother still around?"

His optics dimmed somewhat at the question. "No...he currently is with Kup and part of the Wreckers crew." He said shaking his helm.

Her optic brightened a bit at the news "Then its fine...how is he doing anyway?"

"From the last report I received from the Wreckers he seemed to be doing fine." He said reassuringly.

"I see...that's good...I'm a bit relieved by that..." she drawled. He chose not to comment.

"Bumblebee has become quite the scout since you've been gone despite his young age. And the twins...well, they're still as troublesome as ever...but Sunstreaker seems to have mellowed out somewhat."

She snorted "Well that's a bit hard to believe... but I'll take your word for it..." she paused a bit "What of bluestreak? Last I had seen of him he was on his way to being a good sniper."

"One of our best if not actually THE best."

A tiny little smile twitched on her lips "Good...and I'm guessing by the amount of shouting earlier that Ironhide and Ratchet are still kicking..."

"Yes, they certainly are. And neither of them show any signs of slowing down."

"I'll have to remind myself to give Ratchet news from Infrared..." she said mostly to herself "He'd be proud of her now; she has her very own medbay."

"Is that right? Well, I'll have to congratulate her. Maybe Ratchet will present Infrared with her very own special throwing wrench." He chuckled.

"She has his first wrench in a pedestal in her medbay..." she said dryly "That thing is as dangerous there as it was here..."

He laughed a little harder at that. "Somehow I think he'd be happy to know that."

He didn't receive an answer for that, the femme simply remaining quiet.

"They'll be happy to see you, Ashbringer. They all will." He said after another long moment of silence.

She didn't answer for a few kliks, giving him the impression she was in recharge but then her lips frowned. "I can't stay...I have other things to do...obviously I won't go anywhere when I need repairs...but don't expect me to stay...I haven't gotten her yet..."

His optics seemed to dim. "...So then...You're still searching..." He said quietly.

"...Not exactly..." she paused "I found her...but I can't get to her"

Silence reigned in the room. "...Are you certain of this...?" He asked in a solid tone.

Her frown deepened to a scowl, optics lightning again with a glare "The average endurance of a twin whose counterpart died is of half a Vorn, its been nearly eleven Vorns Prime...and I'm still here. I saw her with my own optics...but...I can't reach out to her...not even when I'm close...I touched her, we've fought each other...so I know I wasn't hallucinating, further more the others saw her as well."

He let out a heavy sigh. "I see...Then I believe you.I'm sorry about upsetting you, I'll need your friends that saw her to testify to that however, since others would not be so believing. I hope you aren't offended by that."

She bit her bottom lip, clearly annoyed with something "Problem is I have no idea where they went to... I had to leave them behind and go back to Elita's but when I got there..." she went quiet.

Optimus read the look on her face. "We'll just have to find them via the communication grid then. We can put it off until then." He said.

"You won't find them that way... I found their ship...well...bits and pieces...along with other type of debris and limbs." she said darkly "I didn't find all of the tripulant's according body parts, so I don't know who died or not...I didn't find a single entire body."

His expression turned to one of hurt and sadness, overcome with shock his voice seemed to be stuck inside him. A tense silence reigned between the two for what seemed like a long time when in fact it was only a few kliks. Finally the Prime wrapped her hand again in his own.

"I'm sorry...You don't need to say any more..."His voice had a certain fatherly quality to it.

She looked up at him, evaluating. "Not right now I don't...but I'm the only chance you got of identifying the ship who probably has them...I didn't have too much time to check on the damage before they caught me as well." her optics dimmed "Though...that's another story..."

"So there are survivors..."

"Possibly...I heard femme screams when they took me to their ship...but I don't remember much from my stay there. I didn't see any of them..."

"I see..." he shut his optics off in thought, " As soon as you're able, I'd like to debrief you on the matter. If they are currently being held captive, then we should move to free them as soon as possible..." He said then giving a heavy sigh, " I'll need to inform all bases as well as ships of this new development so that we can work together on finding their whereabouts. Prowl will have to perform an overhaul on rearranging the task force he built so that he can form a second one to focus on the missing femmes..." He said solemnly.

She nodded quietly "I got away by luck...since my appearance isn't usually that of a femme I was to be discarded and destroyed...I got lucky and got out...the others won't be as fortunate."

He gave a nod. "Yes I know...Which is why we need to hurry to make up for lost time..." He said trying to think further on the matter. "...We're still looking through the Decepticon ship that we attacked...It should still have the escape pod you were in...If it's not too damaged, perhaps we can gain something from the pod's computer banks..."

"I doubt you'll be that lucky...he erased everything...he didn't want me to go back there..." her optics dimmed.

He paused. " He...? "

Her optics offlined, her voice going lower than a whisper, "Don't know..."

He noted the increased fatigue in her voice. "...Alright...I think I've kept you awake long enough...Get some rest, Ashbringer. You've done enough for now...we'll talk more at another time. " He said resting his hand on her forehead as though to cast a spell of recharge.

He received no answer from her as she fell back into recharge. Walking back out he found the CMO glaring daggers at him, clearly annoyed for having taken so long in there.

"I know I said for you to check in on the femme but really! That one needs to recharge. " He said folding his arms in a huff.

"She had to get some things off her chassis Ratchet...seems we have to review our entire plans yet again...inform me as soon as Jazz is free, I'll be needing him to hack into the escape pod's systems."

Ratchet let out a tired sigh before nodding.

"So...you know who she is don't you? I'd advise putting off the news until she's better rested or she might get smothered." the medic said as he and a couple others were going to enter the room to work.

The Prime nodded, "She permitted me to announce it, but I will give her some time to rest, and for everyone else to calm down. The soldiers seemed a bit more riled up than usual."

"'Course they are! Some had their friends taken prisoner on the ship and those who were captured had to put up being under the mercy and hygienic standards of a Decepticon prison. Mind you, they didn't stay long and there are other influencing factors, like the fact that a good portion of our soldiers were being controlled against their will." The CMO snorted.

Again the prime nodded, his calm optics surveying every soldier in there.

"We'll give them some time. If they ask about it, say you can't tell under my orders." he said walking off to the exit.

"Will do." Ratchet said lifting his hand in a farewell gesture.

Date: _ERROR_


	2. Why, no doctor, I don't want a check up

**WindyRen:**Hmm...this coulda been up ages ago when I updated the first chapter with that beginning bit, but noooooo, I had be be a bad bad girl and procrastinate. Oh the inhumanity. Welp, hope you guys liketh the chappy and be sure to kick my patooty more then mah buddy Lyrica cuz I'm the one that really holds up our progress with my finicky need to look over everything and make sure everything is to my liking 110% Heck, this chap might be subjected to being edited. Why? well because wordings and such could be so much better but I sadly lack the experiance and talent of execution. So perhaps I shall kick myself a few times and have my sister look at this because her level of vocabulary and speech is so much better then my own. hurr durr.

Welp, I just wanna make it clear that if the updates come slow, it ain't cuz o' Ly, its cuz o' Windy. Ly does her share of the work and more but me, heh well...So do I but I'm more caught up in working. So as a heads up, kick me in the butt if ya want more chaps more often. Anyway I'mma done rambling now.

WARNINGS:

Torture, violence, rape mentions, slash, sex scenes are included.

Pairings:

OCX? (at least 4 of them so far), HoundxMirage, JazzxProwlxOC, OptimusxElita, Ratchetx?, IronhidexChromia.

STORY TIME COMPARISONS:

**Breem - 10 cybertronion minutes**

**Groon- 1 cybertronion hour**

**Klik- 1 cybertronion minute**

**Nanoklik- 1 cybertronion second**

**Joor- 1 cybertronion day**

**Orn- 1 cybertronion month**

**Quartex – 1 cybertronian week**

**Vorn- 1 cybertronion year**

1 Vorn = 80 human years =29200 human days.

25 Orns = 1 vorn = 1168 human days = 1 orn

1 Orn = 16Quartex =73 days =1 quartex

Quartex=12 Joor = 6 human days = 1 joor

Joor =12 Groon = half human day = 1Groon

Groon = 50 klik = 10 human minutes = 1 klik

Klik = 20 nanoklik = 50 human seconds = 1nanoklik

"SPEAK"

'_BOND SPEAK'_

- COMM LINK-

And now we proceed with our feature presentation and have fun figuring out who's playing who, as some parts make it hard to tell. CB

* * *

Distorted and unstable images played across the screen, a black blur seeming as its main focus in which at one point paused. With a few clicks of some buttons and some enhancement to the resolution, the image became clearer, albeit still distorted. From the image could be made out the black hazy form of the dark phantom and the glowing of his red optics.

"This was the best image that we were able to get of our target. As you can see, not even a clear silhouette can be drawn out due to the nature of this disguise and the only facial feature that is visible are the red optics. Because of this we are still unable to identify his true appearance." Red alert said as he stood beside the screen, his mood clearly not being a good one.

Prowl nodded, waiting for the mech to take a seat again and rose up. "There are various attacks we were able to see from this spy, most of them suggesting a large capacity for processor control and viral attacks. Based on the way the twins explained Jazz was fighting it, it is safe to assume that even touching it IS dangerous. We're dealing with an elite, who not only managed to damage Teletraan and the Ark but also planned ahead so that it could leave without being caught or assassinated." The mechs gathered in the room nodded, taking in the information as the Prime himself took his turn.

"This is the first time we have had such an encounter with this spy. And from this confrontation we have learned that the target had been refraining from using his abilities as a means of keeping us in the dark and is, in fact, a great deal more dangerous than anticipated. While we were unable to capture this Decepticon agent, we now know far more than what we did before. Though Jazz currently is still in recovery and is unable to attend, we will be going over in detail what we've gathered so far. "As the Prime stated this, both Red Alert and Prowl went towards the holoscreen on the far side of the room.

They began with the start of the encounter, going over small details that revealed new facts, such as that the spy was equipped with special energy blades. Much of what was said was already understood by most of those in the room. Prime knew this…so he wasn't surprised by the lack of responses for most of the review. But he knew that there would more than likely be outbursts towards the end. And when they drew near to the end, the Autobot leader grew more attentive to the audience and their behaviours. Some appeared to be getting fidgety. The SIC shifted on his pedes, his wings twitching ever so slightly as he registered his leader's gaze.

"Upon entering the command deck, the spy had been pinned down by Jazz and surrounded by all security that had been placed there. As a result, it let loose what appeared to be an energon based whip at Jazz and manipulated it into forming webs that had trapped all within the room save for Jazz and Mirage .Through the battle that ensued after, in the last moments we learned that not only are these used to attack but that they can be used to as some sort connection for him to hack and infect machinery without directly touching it." Red alert explained as the clip played.

"What we learn from what happens after Prime intervenes is what really gives us insight into the spy, however..." Prowl said with his tone growing more solid.

Everyone seemed to straighten up at this as he looked directly at the Prime."You'd do well to focus on the screen instead of me, Autobots." Optimus reminded to redirect their attention back on the clip as it showed his axe severing the lines to teletraan. The silence in the room seemed to increase as they listened the heated conversation unfold. They all could easily make out the personal spite in the intruder's words as it spoke to their leader, as if he was the one that committed terrible deeds instead of the Decepticon Lord. When the footage ended, Prowl promptly turned off the screen. "As you can see….It would seem our spy has a rather large and _personal_ grudge against our leader. One that far exceeds the usual Decepticon's." Prowl said.

" Indeed. This 'phantom' made no secret of the difficulty he was having to refrain from attacking...Something we may want to consider when we try formulating a plan to bring him out again. " Prime mused weaving his fingers together.

Everyone in the room grew tense at those last words and what they meant, some even protesting loudly, sending the room into a series of bitter arguments. He figured as much. The leader rose from his seat for all to see.

"Calm yourselves, Autobots!" The room instantly died down to silence, their uncertain and worried optics falling on him . "If and when the time comes that I have to place myself in such a position, I will do so without fear for myself. I have faith that all of you will do what is needed to support me if such a thing comes to pass."

None protested, but still the tension was present…and for some it cut like a knife.

"Good. Now this meeting is drawing to its end. But before we go, we have a couple announcements to make" Optimus glanced at Red Alert who stepped up to bat.

"Due to a new development we will be forming a second taskforce. Because of this, some of you may be transferred from this assignment to the other. So make sure to check the schedules. Also, as a security measure everyone aboard the Ark will be required to undergo a check up for viral infections." all mechs winced at the thought of that, earning themselves a glare from the resident CMO.

"And none of you bots even try to skip it!"

There was some grumbling and the like as the meeting ended. The room emptying down to just the Chief officers that were present. Optimus let out a heavy sigh. They waited in silence for the younger ones to leave, when the last one shut the door behind him, all heads returned to Prime.

"I can't say I like our situation. We're being far too overworked, having to catch that spy and now trying to locate and find the captured survivors of the Femme Contingent...Not only that but our ship's systems now need repairs and Teletraan is offline! So much to do!" Red Alert growled. "And while we're having to recover, that spy is busy planning its next moves!"

Prowl nodded "We should focus on strengthening the Ark's entrances; make sure they're well guarded while we're vulnerable. The spy might have gone away but other things may not."

"I swear...Once I get my hands on that spy...He'll wish he'd never been created once I'm through with him..." Ironhide growled.

"Best not to use your hands Ironhide, or didn't you see the videos? Even Jazz kept from touching it too much." Ratchet said.

"That little pitspawn doesn't even deserve a trial in my opinion. Execution on the spot is what I say for the black sparked slag..." He growled.

"Calm yourself, Ironhide. Things may not always be as they appear." Optimus cautioned.

"You think infecting every mech on Vega base isn't worthy of execution? And not just that! He's also cost us other bases and lives!"

"What Prime means Ironhide, is that we do not even know the spy's motives. We have no idea if it is acting on orders willingly or forcefully..." Prowl said calmly. "At this point it is far too early to judge"

"Early my aft...He clearly hates us!" Ironhide snarled. "It's only a matter of time before he goes doing something even worse."

"What do you suppose he will do, then?" Prowl asked, mildly curious with what Ironhide could come up with. Sure the mech was a little blunt and ignorant, but when it came to war and battle, his experience spoke volumes.

"You know what I'm suggesting he'll do. Same thing only on a bigger scale. That bot is capable of committing mass genocide!"

"Possible, which is why we're alerting everyone of the possibility as soon as communications are back up, as well as the news we received of Elita's ship" the tactician explained, noting how the mech flinched at the mention.

"And what good is that gonna do...? Nothing! We can't defend ourselves against this one!" Ironhide growled, shaking his helm.

"We need time to study all we have gathered. As soon as Jazz is released we should be able to begin with the most proliferous part." the mech said calmly.

"What we need is to find a way to defend ourselves against this slagger's viruses. Call me crazy, but I don't think Jazz has whipped up anything for that." Ironhide growled, shifting his tense shoulders.

"Regardless that is all we have at the moment, and we will have to make do with it" Prowl said with a finality in his tone. Ironhide growled.

"He's right Ironhide. Please let it go. It's no use arguing about it." Optimus warned.

"On another note, Prime, how did you come by the information on the Femme Contingent?" Red alert asked, giving Prime a suspicious look. "Wouldn't happen to have been the spy who told you?"

" No...From the femme we rescued earlier, it just so happens that we have young AshBringer aboard once again." Optimus explained with a fond smile. The other mech's optics widened, as did the others, but he quickly shifted them suspiciously again, as was his nature.

"What was she doing out here? The last time we had minimum contact with the femmes they were headed in a completely different direction."

"She had not been traveling with them." The Prime elaborated, "She had run away."

Ironhide let out a whistle "Well that's gotta have Elita pretty riled up..." he smirked, imagining the sight.

"Indeed...I'd refrain from smothering her until she has recovered more from her ordeal."

At that precise moment Ratchet received a beep from one of his mechs in the medbay, when he picked it up they could all clearly hear it screaming at the CMO for help.

-Calm the slag down! I can't make out what you're saying! What's going on down there?- the CMO snarled as everyone turned their attention to him.

-ITS COMPLETLY INSANE! IT'S JUST- they heard a clang and then the mech's commlink went into static. Ratchet just cursed and started for the doorway.

"Can't leave them for anything! I need to get down there before the whole place goes to scrap!" He said running past the doors as they hissed open, leaving the others."And with that, I'm assuming this meeting of ours is over…" Red Alert let out a sigh. He rose from his seat, saluting the others. "I need to get back to work. Our security systems are a complete mess…among other things."

"Indeed…I think it's safe to say we all have a load of work ahead of us." Optimus said as Ironhide got up to leave behind the Security Officer. As the door hissed open, letting the others leave, the Autobot leader lingered behind in his seat, thoughtfully looking at the surface of the table. Prowl stopped and waited for the door to close, leaving just the two of them in the room.

"Is something wrong, Prime? Aside from all these recent issues, of course." The SIC asked. Optimus glanced over at his friend and then back at the table.

"The way the spy spoke…as well as its pitch. I realize that it could have just been the vocal distorter so I may very well be mistaken, but I somehow get the feeling that our foe may be very young…and perhaps yet to be of age." He said with his optics praxian's doorwings twitched again, thought processes stirring.

"It will be noted and investigated, sir." Prowl said.

"I certainly hope I am mistaken…It always pains me to see someone so young have their life taken away." The leader said.

"Prime, if at all possible, we will try and capture the spy alive. You know that." Prowl assured. "Only if there is no other possible way to stop it will we take this one's life."

"Let us hope it does not come to that."

* * *

As the CMO neared his medbay, he could clearly hear fighting, not of one but of many. As soon as the doors hissed open he was forced to duck to avoid an empty tray from hitting him. His medbay was in an all out brawl between the mechs. The medic who had called him was on the floor unconscious, a wrench like shape engraved in his helm and the said object not too far from him. As though his expression didn't already strike fear in the sparks of others, his face contorted further into a scowl, the promise death and destruction written on it.

"WHAT'S THE SLAG IS GOING ON HERE?"

All Autobots froze abruptly, as if someone had pressed the stop button on a remote. They all turned to Ratchet very, very slowly. Everyone's optics paled as he stomped further into the room.

"Just what...do you _PITSPAWNS_ think you're doing in _MY MEDBAY_? Hm? YOU THINK THIS IS SOME BOXING RING?" He said as he suddenly flung a vast array of tools from seemingly nowhere at them, trademark wrench included. By instinct they ducked behind the furniture and berths.

"They started it!" most of them said, quickly pointing to two mechs at the end, two very familiar red and yellow mechs. The CMO increased the intensity of his deathly gaze to its maximum, as he turned he turned to face the two.

"SIIIDESWIPE...SUUUNSTREAKER…!"

The two flinched in their place.

"IT WASN'T OUR FAULT! H-HONESTLY!" Sideswipe quickly tried to justify.

"It was that glitch's!" Sunstreaker said pointing at the unconscious medic " he wouldn't let us out!"

"THIS ISN'T A WRESTLING STABLE!" He snarled, closing the distance between them and beating the twins with a tool tray. "If my staff says you're not allowed, THEN YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED!" The two groaned, rubbing at their helms painfully.

"Well you didn't hear how that pompous fragger said it!" the golden mech argued.

"Yeah, he was asking for it." his brother agreed.

"If you have a problem with my staff's behaviour then you file a complaint or come directly to me like regular mechs!" The twins gave him a nasty look and were about to complain further when a slightly softer voice interrupted them.

"What's going on out here? Primus..." the femme had come out to check what all the noise had been, only to find the medbay in a mess. She was wrapped in a thermal blanket to hide her body under. Everyone turned to stare at her haggard appearance.

"Nothing! Go back to recharge! You're not supposed to be up!" Ratchet snapped, lowering his deadly glare to simply a stern one. He turned to the rest room's occupants. "And as for you lot! If you're not medics then get out! If you're well enough to brawl, you're well enough to leave!" He then pointed harshly at the twins. "You two stay, I'm not through with you yet. You're gonna clean up this mess!"

"WHAT!" the two yelped indignantly, staring at him in horror while others started leaving in a hurry.

"Don't you give me that load of slag! Clean this place up! AND IF YOU DON'T DO A GOOD JOB, THEN YOU'LL BE PLAYING GUINEA PIGS FOR THE TRAINEES!" He roared pointing to said group of inexperienced medics. Hearing their cue, the rookie medics held out their tools enthusiastically with devious expressions.

The two flinched, nodding in defeat and moving off to find what they needed to clean up the place. Ratchet huffed in response, mildly satisfied they didn't argue further and turned to make sure the femme had gone back to her room. Instead, what he saw was the door still open and the femme neither inside nor at the door.

He let out a growl of annoyance. He was _not_ in the mood for this. His scowl secure on his face-plates he went looking around the medbay. He found her quickly by a display screen which acted as a window to the outside, something that was common throughout the Ark. The nervous fidgeting and the frequent moving of her optics made it clear she was searching for something out there. He quietly walked up to her.

"I thought I told you to go back to recharge." He reminded, keeping his tone in check.

She jumped a little, but didn't turn to look back at him.

"I'm not as tired anymore...besides after waking up to all that noise, it's kind of unsettling to do so now..."she responded as her optics gave up on the digital window, a frown set in her features.

"You should be staying in your berth regardless." He said placing his hands on her shoulders and directing her back to her room. "You won't recover any sooner by ignoring your doctor."

"But Ratchet! It's boring in there! You know I hate being still! Much less in a berth!" she protested meekly as she was pushed away.

"Exactly, so the less you protest, the less time it'll take for you to get better. Put any more strain on your already worn body and you'll just be adding more time to your torment." Ratchet replied without missing a beat.

"I'm not under any torment" she said with a pout. Not moving her feet to walk, she was using her wheels instead and Ratchet's insistent pushing. "I hardly feel any pain anymore."

"That would be the sedatives, and I was referring to your boredom." He said smugly. Her pout deepened.

" That could easily be ended...if I was even allowed to read perhaps?" she tried to sound innocent.

"Sure, but how long will that last you? You get bored easily AND quickly."

"True to that...but by then I'll probably convince you to let me take a few strolls around," she mused, faking intense thinking . "After all...there is just so much I can bribe you with."

"Unless you've got good hands for an amazing shoulder rub, I doubt that'll happen." He muttered.

"Hmmm...? How about some news from Infrared then? That's pretty close isn't it?" she asked tilting her head back a little to look directly at him. She was pleased to see a little glint in his optics. A cheeky grin spread through her lips.

"Maybe there is some room for taking a brief stroll once you're at a further stage of recovery...in a hover chair." She frowned.

"Not happening" she crossed her arms in a huff. "On my own two feet, or no info, and I won't even give you her letter."

"If I see that you're well enough, then yes. But for now that's my best offer. Take it or leave it. Infrared wouldn't even be bargaining with you in my position. _I _wouldn't normally be bargaining with you." He said matter-of-factly.

"Well she isn't in your position" she said hopping back onto her berth and wincing a bit at the fast movement. "How long do you think 'till I'm good to go?"

"You're really the only one that needs tending to. Aside from Jazz who'll be ready for light duty tomorrow, things should go pretty fast, despite the fact that we'll be performing thorough check-ups on the whole crew soon. I'll be making sure to keep a set team of medics free so that they can take care of you while we do that...two Quartexes if you do as you're told and there's no battles or unforeseen circumstances. If you're really good and we work fast and well in making you a new set of armour then maybe a quartex and a half. That's also assuming we don't go running into any trouble. " he said thoughtfully. His faceplates shifted to a light frown. "We'll also need to perform a thorough systems check on you, now that I think of it. Doing a physical exam would probably be a good idea too...See if we're missing anything."

She flinched at that, jerking away as a reaction "R-r-right..." if she could, she probably would have paled. The reaction didn't go unnoticed by the CMO.

"Ashbringer, if you're hiding something, you best tell me." He warned regaining a stern expression. "I'll perform these myself if it will make you more comfortable."

She smiled nervously waving her hand in dismissal "Don't be silly, what could I possibly hide that you haven't noticed yet?" one of her optics was twitching a bit "I-i-its that Jazz bit that got me a bit shocked," she responded, avoiding to meet his optics. He gave her a weary look.

"You're a horrible liar, Ashbringer." She went stiff, lowering her head further.

"W-w-w-whywouldIlie? Imeanthere'snoreasonformetolieright?I'" she mentally cursed herself for talking so fast. He shook his helm, looking over to make sure the door was closed and locked it for good measure before going back to her side.

"Tell me what's wrong. I won't comment or pass judgement. I won't even make a face. What you tell me will stay between us only. Same with what I find when I perform both the Systems check and Physical exam." He said in a calm and even tone.

Her optics looked at him in horror then at the door, then back at him then at the door. She was stuck? Instinctively she pulled her knees up, hugging them and looking down darkly. The atmosphere changed as abruptly as her mood.

"I-I don't want to talk about it..."

"Ashbringer, it's better that you let me know now rather than letting me find out when I look you over, don't you think? The door is locked so that no one will go bursting in on you." He said placing a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away from the touch as if it burned, shrinking to the edge of the berth. The small noise of armour rattling indicated faint trembling even though it was hard to see it.

"Don't..." her tone was neither hurt, nor scared. Instead it was hateful." I don't want any of that stuff. I don't want a check up, I don't even want a fragging anti-virus. I want to leave... Right now!"

Ratchet kept his calm demeanour." You don't need to give details. You don't even need to tell me what happened right now. Just show me. Show me what's wrong."

"NO!" she shrieked looking up with vivid optics back to full light. She hugged herself tighter, keeping a weary look on the mech, "I don't want ANYONE else looking at me!"

His face turned to nothing short of concern before letting out a heavy sigh. He wouldn't be getting anything out of her. Not this time around.

"Alright...I'll leave you alone then...But you're going to have to tell me at some point...Let me know when you're ready for the exam…You won't be leaving the medbay without it." He said quietly as he made for the door. Her audios spun a bit, increasing their capacity to hear as he digitized the code to unlock the door. She let him walk out and waited for him to lock it again from the outside. Only he never locked it. All she heard was his footsteps fading out of range.


	3. Looking for someone

"What happened?"

Ratchet gave a scowl, turning to his patient.

"Nothing. Go back to recharge, Jazz."

"I may have had my head smashed but my CPU's still functional, Ratchet. I heard the angry screamin' from earlier and I know it was her. Now what happened?" Jazz said in a tone unlike his usual self. "What's got my ol' charge's wires crossed?"

Ratchet's scowl deepened.

"What makes you think she'd feel any better about me telling you about our spat? If I'm not mistaken she still isn't quite happy with you either."

"Ratchet…"

The CMO let out a growl.

"It's been taken care of. Keep your noseplate out of it."

"For your sake, ya better hope so." Jazz said.

She waited, seconds, minutes, hours...when she was pretty sure it was late in the night and that the medbay was closed off (due to its lack of noise) she dared near the door, hissing it open and peeking outside, it was dark at this time, but all seemed calm and clear.

She was half way across the medbay when-

"Leaving us so soon?" a gentle but strong voice spoke.

Quick as lightning the femme spun on her heels, arms raised up to face the voice and pedes spread apart ready to make a run for it. One of the medbay lamps lit on, showing none other then the Autobot leader sitting calmly on a chair.

"Relax Flamer. I'm not here to stop you." Despite his reassuring words, her pose didn't change a bit.

"Then why would you be here? I know you like to check up on your injured soldiers but this is a little different" she spoke sharply. His demeanour didn't change and simply gestured at the chair in front of him.

"Sit down. I just want to talk. I wasn't given any details or told what happened. Just that you might be leaving." He said calmly. She glanced wearily at the chair, clearly indecisive.

"I told you what mattered. There's not much else to tell" She didn't move from her spot, neither to leave nor to sit down. He merely shook his head.

"I'll take your word for it. But I won't be talking about what has or hasn't been said. Please, just sit down." He said to her. Another look of hesitance before she let out an impatient sigh and moved over to sit down, wincing as she did, the chair was far harder than she expected it to be.

"Thank you." He said nodding his head to her. "I'm aware that you are not much in the mood for talking, so I appreciate it."

She didn't say anything, only looking at her feet uncomfortably. She shifted a bit trying not to look like she was trying to find a more comfortable position in that chair. The Autobot leader took in a long breath of air before letting it out.

"Your sister...Do you have any clues to her whereabouts?" He said starting out.

She looked up, mildly surprised, then back at the floor uncertainly.

"I know the ship and crew she's working with...as far as I know they were heading near Cybertron, to an organic sector if I'm not mistaken...I don't know their goal though..."

He nodded his head, shifting in his chair.

"What is the name of this ship? Do you know who's leading it?"

She nodded.

"I've been fighting that thing for 9 years...managed to infiltrate it once or twice so i have some of its basic schematics...the ship's name is Chaos, MindGriever is leading it. Last thing we heard from them was a message we intercepted, between him and Megatron. It was all scrambled though, we didn't manage to get much info from it, but they mentioned the femme contingent...I got worried and went to check on them..."

"Mindgriever...While I have never engaged him personally I am well aware of him...This answers the question why you have not yet been reunited with your sister." He said nodding his head. Her optics dimmed, her hand tightening around the chair arm.

"She's...not herself...she doesn't remember anything...and I can't feel or make her feel me in turn! They filled her with so many lies...I don't even understand where they got so much information on us to make them. I can only assume he must have hacked into sister's entire memory bank..."

"I'm sorry, Ashbringer." He said sincerely. He looked to the floor for a moment. "You said that it was from them that you first heard about the femme contingent...?"

"Y-yea...well not exactly...it SOUNDED like they were talking about them...they just spoke like 'her' and 'she' and then 'them'. It was a really scrambled up message. Either way the cons that I found with the femme contingent were neither Megatron's nor Mindgrievers...although I can't tell you whose it was... I didn't get the name of anyone there." she shook her head quietly. He nodded at this.

"Still, it may do us some good to go and travel up to where they're going. We weren't able to get anything from your escape pod as you said. But thanks to Wheeljack and a little science, he was able to figure out which direction your pod had come from and based on where you told me they were going, it does fit the general direction." He said.

"I see..." she said looking at her knees thoughtfully."If I may...I'm tempted to ask a favour? But I don't even know how to ask it...I want to protect the one that helped me out but I ...don't know who he is...I could hardly see right at the time so even showing pictures won't help...and he didn't speak much to begin with so voice recordings won't do either..." she seemed displeased.

"I understand. Though I wouldn't worry about it until we actually do locate the ship containing the femme contingent. Going to that sector and finding them is still a long shot after all." He said shaking his head. She nodded.

"Plus I think at the time I escaped they were being attacked...although I didn't hear any gun fire, the alarm was going off...that's why he used the chance to send me in an escape pod, in the middle of the confusion no one shot me down. In any case I don't know if I was the only one...he might be doing the same for the rest of the femmes."

"I see...Do you know how long you were in that escape pod?"

She shook her head as a slight no.

"I don't even know how long I was in the con ship. Most of my systems were crashed and my reserves were all going to self repairs. It felt like weeks though...probably was considering I still got operated and healed up from it somewhat. Then judging by how much I recovered in the pod I'd say...3-4 Quartex? Maybe?"

"All right...I'll see what we can find out with that." He said weaving his fingers together and leaning back against the chair. She shifted in her place, clearly uncomfortable, looking at anything but the imposing leader.

"I'm glad that you were able to find clues about her...to even see her. Even able to provide the ship and crew she's working with. While it may not seem like much, you have a lot to go off of in your search...Something that shows that you're headed in the right direction or at least have something to work off of." He said looking to her. She didn't seem that convinced.

"While that may be true...to get her to see reality is ...much more difficult...I don't need a bond to know that she's unhappy there, but I do need one to make her see that herself. The way she is now I can't even have a decent conversation without entering in battle."

"But you know that she's there. You know that she's still alive and out there somewhere. And while it may not be pleasant you get the occasional chance to see her and not lose hope. Others are not so lucky when searching..." He said with his optics going distant.

"I guess...but that bot isn't her...I don't know if she can revert back...Prometheus and SteelBreaker said she would but I think they were simply trying to moralize me..."she let out a dry chuckle "I'm quite useless after all...I can't even save my own twin, and I suck at everything else...I'm not even good for...other things..."

"You still have hope...and faith...Never lose it. No matter what you think of yourself. I myself strongly disagree about your assessment. You can do many things if you put your mind to it and maintain your strong sense of perseverance. That is what I believe. But at the end of the cycle, what matters is what you think about yourself. "

She didn't comment, not knowing how to answer that to herself. She winced a second time, trying to disguise it with gestures of thoughtfulness, her hand slowly and discreetly made its way up to her chassis, putting on some pressure into it.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

Optimus Prime stared at her critically for a long moment, his gaze gentle and caring before he gave a nod, getting up from his seat.

"Yes...that is all. You can leave. I do wish that you would stay and it saddens me that you had not even the chance to spend time with your friends. But if this is your decision, I will not force the matter. We are nearby some settlements. Our escape pods should have enough fuel to get you to navigate to one of them. Please be careful. " He said making his way to the door, the light from the ever lit hallway shining into the medbay as the doors hissed open. He turned back to her before taking another step.

" Your mission to be reunited with your sibling reminds me of some dear friends of mine who were brothers. Like you, one is lost out there somewhere and the other has been searching for him ever since...Him and one of his lost brother's creations...It's been many years and not a trace has been found since...I pray that your mission does not take that turn...for both your sakes" He said with strong feelings behind his optics and a solemn tone. Her look hardened with confidence.

"I won't let it. Cliffstrider is my sister and my responsibility, I'll do whatever it takes to get her back." He nodded to her.

"See that you do...please take care of yourself." He said leaving.

She sighed to herself, staying in the chair a while longer, staring at the empty one in front of her. Optimus just had to make her feel some guilt... she rubbed at the spot on her chassis no longer afraid anyone would see it since he was out.


	4. A more complicated problem

Somehow the CMO wasn't surprised when he found the private room once holding the femme to be empty. Nevertheless, Ratchet still wasn't happy about it. He had hoped that the Prime may have been able to change the young Ashbringer's mind. He grumbled where he stood.

As he did this, Prowl walked into the medbay, as usual to receive his reports, punctual and early as always. Ratchet only snorted.

"Kid jumped ship if that's what you're here about, if it's for Jazz then he should already be up and lounging in the rec room." He said leaving the doorway to the private room. "There's just no getting through to some kids..." he said shaking his head disapprovingly.

Prowl blinked, doorwings twitching "she...jumped ship?" he repeated, his processor made a nasty noise. Ratchet gave tired nod.

"In respect to her privacy I won't say why or give details, but we ended in a kind of spat. Made her want to leave. Would have kept her here but you know how Ashbringer is. I TRIED to have Prime talk to her, see if he could get her to stay but turns out that was a flop. Thankfully, she should be able to make it to at least one of the settlements in whatever escape pod she took...Hopefully, she'll have enough sense to get a medic to fix what we didn't get to." He said annoyed. "That kid is so fragging difficult..." He grouched. Prowl blinked again .

"that's not possible " he stated as if it were the most logical thing in the world, very light emotion of surprise on his voice "I got notice from Wheeljack last night, due to the viral attack all our escape pods are out of order. They do not work"

Ratchet paused, his optics flickering and turning fully to face the SIC.

"What?"

"Unless she has indeed, as you said, jumped off ship, there is no way she was to leave the Ark safely...the escape pods are currently offline" the SIC explained.

Ratchet's optics slowly widened in horror. The two just stared at each other for a long moment. The revelation somehow not quite sinking in. When it did however, Ratchet was shoving Prowl aside and scrambling out of the Medbay. The SIC following after once he recovered his balance.

"SWEET MERCIFUL PRIMUS!"

There were mechs that were nearly ran over and some roughly pushed aside by the frantic Ratchet.

"OUTTA MY WAY!" He snarled as he activated his comm. link and alerted the Prime.

He could hear the Prime's tired voice, it sounded as if he had just woken up himself.

-What is it Ratchet? What's all this I'm hearing through the comm links?-

-THE ESCAPE PODS! THEY AREN'T WORKING! THEY WERE DAMAGED IN THE VIRAL ATTACK! AND YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT THAT FEMME IS CRAZY ENOUGH TO JUMP SHIP!- He roared.

-Calm down Ratchet... are you sure she wasn't in the medbay? Did anyone even check the escape pods? She might still be there - he asked a little hopeful.

Ratchet growled but lowered his voice.

-Prime, I'm assuming she left after you spoke to her. I'm also assuming that was a few hours ago, correct me if I'm wrong. And if that's the case she should be long gone by now!- He said as he crashed by Ironhide. The Prime sighed.

-Fine...I'll have red alert trying to set up our scanners as soon as possible.-

-You do that.- He said as he approached the launch bay.

The mechs that were performing maintenance and repairing the systems gave him odd stares as he looked around, Prowl entering shortly after himself. He quickly headed into the small room to the right that held the stairway and closed ceiling door to hatch 14. By deduction this would've been the hatch she used after finding the pods inoperable since it was the closest. He quickly headed over to the access panel and looked through it's logs to see how long ago she had left.

The hatch had not been opened anywhere near last night.

Ratchet hit his fist against the wall next to the panel. He tried refreshing the access log. To his dismay it only remained the same. Then a thought hit him.

….If the escape pods systems were out of commission then perhaps the hatch was as well…?

He tried opening the hatch, punching in the code. The panel gave a low tone beep, a notification saying it was unable to open. Prowl exchanged glances with Ratchet briefly before making his own com link to Red alert

-Red alert? This is Prowl speaking-

-Yes, yes! Prime told me all about it already! How did the little glitch get out? Certainly not through the hatches, I've been up all night trying to fix that bug.-

Thankfully Prowl had set for his comm. link to play out loud so Ratchet could hear as well. He raised an optic ridge.

-ALL of them? There haven't been any windows broken have there? The boarding dock launched? She couldn't have gone through the Ark's ramp entrance...-

-Nothing of the sort, I could try and check the mini cam bots I placed last night. Might have caught something, there should be one wandering around there.-

-Please do.- Ratchet said folding his arms.

-You can catch that one if you find it, you just have to press the button and it'll project its findings. I'll go check up on the others- Prowl then shut off his commlink, turning to look around, his optics were quick to find the camera bot hiding on top of an escape pod, turned to the other in front of the one he was standing. The two wasted no time in moving, making their way quickly over to the drone.

"Better have something useful or I'm gonna slag this thing..."Ratchet grumbled. Prowl plucked it from its spot and pressed the button on its back, a projection initiated and he directed it to the wall. it was on fast forwards but they could clearly see what was going on, starting with Wheeljack and Prowl himself discussing the pods the night before. Then passing many hours without anything in particular until the said femme appeared, hunched by the doorway and leaning against the wall, the camera followed her, recording what looked like a drunken behavior, though if it had been at regular speed it would have probably been staggering.

The femme entered the escape pod behind them, closing the door, the camera then still focused on it and after a while there was a little flash inside of the pod and nothing again. The two looked to each other once again turning themselves over to the pod the femme had entered.

"Could she actually still be...?" Ratchet moved to have the pod's door opened.

He was met with a large cloud of smoke, blocking his optics and filling his vents with its foul smell.

"Fraggit all...sweet mercy...!"He gagged backing away and hacking out the foul air. He immediately swished his hand to wave the foul odor from his face and focused on trying to look inside the now open pod. The smoke started to clear and they could eventually see the grey body appearing on the seat, apparently still. Optics were staring widened at the ceiling of the pod, mouth hanging agape.

The medic may have let out a sigh of relief for finding she was still aboard but didn't give himself time to revel in it. Immediately, he went hovering over her and performing various scans, noting the color of her optics as well as her expression. His optics immediately turned to that of worry. He snapped his fingers and waved his hand in front of her.

"Kid! Hey, you with me? Snap out of it!" He said noting the lack of response. He reached to place a hand on her shoulder only to jerk it away, his hand receiving a nasty shock.

Prowl kept quiet during the whole ordeal, his optics moving to the controls, they seemed untouched and unaffected...apart from some smoke stains of course, where as her body seemed to have been hit full blast.

"This didn't come from the machine "He pointed towards the area that was still letting out a small trail of smoke, her chassis "whatever blew up, blew up in there."

Ratchet narrowed his optics.

"Turn away." He said looking to him. He noted the other mechs staring. "You too! Better yet, get yer afts outta here or at least on the opposite side of the launch bay!" He snarled making the spectators jump and start scurrying away.

"W-what? You're not really going to-" but upon Ratchet's glare even Prowl knew when to be silent, he turned away to the mechs, waving at them to do as told.

Making absolutely certain that there were no unwanted lookers before he turned back to the femme, Ratchet gave one last scalding glare to the rooms occupants. Feeling satisfied, Ratchet went about opening the femme's chassis, despite the harsh shocks that went attacking his hands.

The light that came from inside nearly blinded him until his optics could adjust, her spark was going too bright, there was circuitry burnt probably from the shocks inside. But what bothered him most was the state the spark was in. If it weren't for the light, it was like looking at a glass ball full of scratches here and there, and a deep gap on its right side, where most of the energy concentration seemed to be coming from.

His processor went through the various things that could have caused this, what exactly he was looking at. If the gap had been smaller, he would have thought it to be the result of sparking. But it was far too big...no, it certainly wasn't sparking...He felt his own spark cringe.

...She had had a piece of her own spark cut away from her...His expression darkened, now knowing the reason behind her behavior...He could only imagine what else the Decepticons may have done to her during her captivity...

He knew what this meant now...Finding and rescuing the femmes just got put under a stricter time limit. One that was unknown. She was still here, which was a good sign that her missing fragment still was around...but it was only a matter of time before it would fade away, her spark following with it. He could give her treatment to keep it at bay, but for how long would that last...? What about those still in captivity...?

Her body shook at the exposure of her spark, the familiar feeling of being wide open seeming to jerk her processor into rebooting. The dimmer her optics and spark got, the more she began shaking.

He noted the reaction, and while it would've been better to leave her to the open air to cool off, he wasn't going to betray the femme's trust anymore than he had to. The fact that he had opened her up was already going to put a strain between them. Thankfully, he was no longer being shocked, and was now scooping the young femme into his arms and bringing her out.

Prowl was still standing nearby, his back turned to them, his ´doorwings twitching a bit when their sensors felt Ratchet moving out.

"Are you done Ratchet? "He asked not daring to turn back,

"She's not exposed if that's what you mean. As for being done, I'm far from it, I just got more work that needs to be done." He said walking briskly past the tactician. "Call my staff and tell them I'm heading back up to the medbay. I want that private room set up again for some critical treatment." Prowl did so, following behind him in quick steps.

"Mind enlightening me in what is going on? I will have to report this to Pirme while you're busy." he said while setting up the comm links.

"Patient confidentiality. " Ratchet responded flatly.

That didn't seem to please the tactician but he let it go for now.

"I'll come by the medbay later then, I'll inform Prime personally about this. " he said changing directions to another hall. Ratchet just snorted. If Ashbringer didn't want anyone knowing, then as her medic he'd fragging well keep his mouth shut just as he'd do with any other patient. Sure, he'd have to tell them that they'd need to hurry up on finding the femmes but they weren't going to get more than that.

He quickened his strides and relaxed somewhat as he finally met up with some medics that had brought him the mobile berth and set the femme down on it, allowing for them to move at a far greater pace. He remained silent upon the questions asked and made it known that only he was going to be working on the femme unless he absolutely needed help.

Primus had granted him a small mercy however; as he found that the damage had not been nearly as much as he suspected it would when he ventured to open her spark chamber. The medics waited outside the room in case he needed any help, occasionally helping a mech or another that came in for a quick fix. By the time he came out again it was already halfway through the day and he was dirty with smoke and small energon spills.

He let out a heavy and tired sigh and went flopping down on the nearest chair, leaning back on it tiredly. He pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that there would probably be more hurdles to jump after this.

"U-um...sir? The patient?" one of the mechs asked a bit fearfully. "Do you want us to do anything?"

"Patient's fine." He grunted. "She'll be fine. Unless I tell one of you to specifically do something or if she goes asking for anything, maybe feels like having company, I don't want you going in there. Got it? Anyone who does other then maybe saying hi or just checking on her, will be put on probation. " He said straightening his posture and giving everyone a stern look. The mechs gave him perplexed looks, never before having gotten such a strict order. Another mech seemed to hesitate .

"U-um...Prime also asked that once you were done, to contact him." He looked to the mech and let out another sigh, forcing himself up from the chair.

"Right...Tell him I'll be in my office."

* * *

Later that day, someone would be slipping into the femme's room unnoticed. The mech sat by her in silence for a long while, quietly saying a prayer or two before petting the femme's head.

"I hope things'll get better for ya soon, girly…I'm sorry I wasn't there for ya…" Jazz said before leaving in the same way he came.


	5. Meeting old friends

If one had thought Ratchet had been in a bad mood when he came out of his meeting with Prime, then those bots were among the first who scrambled out of the medbay at the end of the day when the femme woke up. Clearly they expected an all out war of screaming and yelling between the two, and that more then likely one would kill the other.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT!"

If this wasn't something so personal and delicate, the CMO would yelling back at her just as fiercely with anger. But not only was he dealing with something very personal, he was also dealing with a difficult patient.

"I did what I had to. And a good thing I did too." He said standing his ground, his tone firm yet soft. He folded his arms and stood in his place. He expected a reaction no less then this.

"You didn't have to do a fragging thing! I said I didn't want an analysis! I said I didn't want you to look at me! I'd rather have died than that!" she screamed at him from the berth, unable to get off because her legs had been shut down, mostly because of her other problem.

" Which would leave your sister stuck out there all alone until her own spark would go out. Which as I'm sure you know, would not be long after your own death. " He said simply. She flinched at the words, looking down at her fists angrily.

"You still had no right to do this...it was bad enough as it was. Now I have to live with this too..."

"I have a right to look out after my friends and make sure they'll be alright. Would you simply had done nothing in my position if you had to make the same choice? Would you just abandon someone that not only you cared about but others did as well? " the femme kept looking down, hugging herself for comfort.

"Its not fair... I already went through enough surgery and repairs...I shouldn't be needing this anymore..."

"I know...Which makes what I have to tell you that much harder..."He said as he went setting down a syringe by the table. " I had considered maybe keeping quiet and waiting to tell you...but I know you'd like that a lot less and it would be even more unfair to you..."

She didn't say anything, keeping her head low, he had the feeling that if she had her traditional armour her spiked parts would have been low. He let out a heavy sigh.

"That missing piece...We need to get it back...If it fades out, so will the spark. So far you're still strong, but it's only a matter of time before the spark starts to weaken as the missing piece does. Now...I can give you treatment to keep it at bay but that's not going to be enough. We're going to need to find it." He said as compassionately as he could as he bent himself to be optic level with her. Her fists only tightened further.

"I felt it...I felt everything...but I can't let a little thing like that stop me now...I'm so close to her...so close...I can't stop or I'll loose her for good."

"Ashbringer...if you die, what will happen to her? I'm not asking you to stop trying to get her back. But if you don't put that aside, you'll only be getting her back just so she can grieve at your loss, blaming herself. Is that really what you want?"

"But if the shard isn't retrieved and I die before getting to her then it would have all been a waste..." she said darkly, her mood clearly dropping "I would have died giving up on her. Don't even begin trying to convince me you guys will find it...for all I know there's barely anything left of it..."

"If there was hardly anything left you'd be lying on this berth, not a moment away from death. You're spark is still strong which means the shard is as well and probably being well taken care of despite who's currently holding it hostage. With treatment, I can guarantee that you'll still remain strong and healthy for about 4, probably 5 months or longer." He said earnestly to her.

"9 years...I've been running after her for 9 years...4 or 5 months...isn't enough...I need to leave, I need to leave now. I won't take it any longer." her tone was dark and failing, and then, as if someone had switched the insane button, she chuckled dryly "Your daughter says hello by the way...she wanted you to know she's CMO of our ship...quite talented she's gotten..."

Ratchet went into a grimace.

"Infrared will be upset to know what will become of her very first patient….as well as one of her closest friends..."

She shrugged

"Unavoidable...she knew it, she kept saying one day I'd show up dead in front of her medbay and she wouldn't care. 'Course she was just joking but yea...some reality hidden..." her optics flickered "I just can't stand around without my sister any more...its becoming too painful."

"You think you're the only one having to deal with the same problem?" He said shaking his head and straightening up. "You at least know there's still someone to save. That she's still out there and have even seen her as well gotten your clues. That path isn't going to dry up on you. And you actually get motivated to keep going because of it..." He said looking away.

She kept quiet, her face low and shadowed, her hands fisted and opened as if they didn't know which to choose.

"P-please leave me alone...I need time to think..." she said barely above a whisper. He gave her nod.

"Take your time. I know it's not easy...If you need some company, just let me know and I'll get one of your old buddies here to talk to you." He said putting a light hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. The femme only gave a short nod, not looking up from her hands, her expression sombre.

He left the femme quietly, giving her one last look before going through the door and leaving the femme to her thoughts.

Ash looked around her now memorized room nervously, occasionally glancing at the medibot checking if the hover chair she was currently sitting on was working well. He seemed to have found nothing wrong with it so far.

She had a small thermal blanket over her legs protecting them from any eventual cold or dust they might catch, and also hiding the new work he had done to restoring them back to what they once were, it sort of eased her to have part of her armour back at least, and they had given her a plain saturated red paintjob for now just so it wasn't so weird looking at her grey body.

"Now, I know you'd rather be going on your legs...Or at least on a pair of crutches, so I apologize for that...I do have my staff and such working as much as they can on them but as you know it has to be just right for you speedsters. Should only be a few more days before you can at least use the crutches though..."Ratchet said as he finished looking over the chair and straightened out. As he turned it on the chair gave a jerk startling her, making her grab it in fear of falling and then lifted itself off of the floor.

"When was the last time you used this fragging thing? A billion years ago?" she asked bitterly, already the medic was feeling sorry for her escort, he snorted.

"Normally, I don't let my patients out at all when in your condition." He said crossing his arms in a huff. "In fact, I still would rather prefer you sticking on the berth like a good patient." He said narrowing his optics at her. He gave a light smirk though. " You've behaved well and done what I've asked to the letter so far, though, so I'm letting it slide." He said patting her on the head like a youngling.

The femme gave him an ugly scowl, clearly unhappy with her situation but not daring to say anything else for fear of changing his mind.

"Its not like I can walk out yet anyway" she grumbled.

"True. But still." He said as he went behind the hover chair. "Speaking of which, you have applied the syringe today, haven't you?" He asked.

"Y-yeah..." she said shivering at the mere memory of it. She'd had to apply it many times so far to keep her spark steady and stable; however that didn't make her any more used to it. Direct contact with the spark in general would usually hurt; to inject something through a syringe was even worse. Still, she preferred to be herself doing it rather than having anyone else do it, she wasn't comfortable with even Ratchet looking at her spark.

"Good, I know it's not pleasant, but keep it up. If you have any problems with it, let me know. "

"Right..." she said turning to the door when they heard it hiss open, her expression only sunk further into a scowl "You did this on purpose didn't you?"

"I have other things to do and he's still on light duty-and before you say, it this glitch has learned how to do his desk work promptly since you've been gone. He should be free the entire time you're on your stroll." Ratchet said narrowing his optics at the familiar form of Jazz. "And YOU, I don't want to hear about any incidents occurring or I'll be detaching your legs and putting you in this chair, got it?"

The Saboteur just smiled and waved him off.

"I know, I know. I hear ya loud and clear, Ratch." He said as he took hold of the hover chair.

The femme merely crossed her arms with a huff, once they exited the private room however her expression changed to that of worry, feeling extremely self-conscious when they got to the general medbay.

"Ya look fine, lil' Ash. Just focus on enjoying your stroll, girl." Jazz said reassuringly.

"I am relaxed!" she lied giving a glare to a mech who was watching them pass by and successfully frighting him for life.

"Sure ya are, and I'm not white and black." He said jokingly. She gave him a glare before turning back forwards, shifting her hands every once in a while because of all the looks she felt on her. They moved on out of the medbay and into the halls. She noted how it still looked pretty much the same as the last day she'd seen it.

"Have to say, it's been a lonnng time since I last saw you. Good to have ya around again, even if it's only gonna be for a little while. " He said pushing her along.

"I was eleven back then" she said "It has indeed been a long time..."

"And I wasn't Chief of special ops or third in command either..." He said. "There's a lot to do and a lot to know and learn for this nutty job of mine."

"I'm still trying to figure out how THAT happened "she said glancing at a passing by room with some mechs talking friendly to each other, but Jazz didn't stop there and kept going "Where are you taking me anyway?"

He gave big smirk.

"Oh, nowhere..."

Her optics sharpened in suspicion.

"I dun like that tone…" she noted the direction they were taking.

"You'll see, lil' Ashy. If you don't figure it out on the way that is." He said with his smirk growing into a full smile.

"I'm not little any more" she said pouting. The noises became more and more clear, and by the time they passed by Ironhide's weapons storage she knew where they were going "I'm pretty sure Ratchet would have considered this one of the places that could cause 'incidents'"

"He never said we couldn't. Just that we can't get into any accidents." Jazz said coolly.

"I ain't taking responsibility if anything happens." she warned with a sigh, Jazz pushed the chair in, she felt even more self conscious when she saw so many mechs in there.

The place they had entered was none other than the training room, which was currently full of mechs, most of them being in a large organized group and jogging around the perimeter of the room while being grilled by Ironhide.

"Come on, Funshine! What's wrong? You're usually on a hot streak!" Sideswipe's voice said coming from the left side of the room. The mech had a cocky-aft smile, his form slightly damaged as he waved his servo for his yellow twin to come at him.

A little further back the familiar forms of Bluestreak and Bumblebee were having some sort of contest in the shooting range. Sunstreaker growled at his brother, throwing himself at him in a display of brutal strength, the two went to the floor wrestling one another in no time.

"Did you have to bring me to somewhere so crowded?" the femme asked trying to look at the rookies rather than at the bots she knew, embarrassment clear on her face.

"Aw, it's not that crowded dependin' on which side you go on." He said. "Besides, I thought I'd surprise these guys since they haven't seen ya yet, much less know you're here. Don't worry 'bout the other bots, Ironhide's keeping' them too busy to do much else than focus on what their doin'" He said.

As though on cue, a couple of mechs turned to glance at their way only to have Ironhide shoot a few warning shots at them.

"Keep yer afts focused or I'll burn a hole through 'em!" He bellowed at the frazzled soldiers who sped up their pace.

"He's still rough as ever, I see..." Ash commented watching slightly amused at the mechs speeding up a bit in fright, the corner of her lips slightly twitching into a smile. The clanking and scraping of metal and grunts could be heard and the two twins continued rolling on the ground and wrestling every which way.

"I'm...gonna...win...this time...!" Sideswipe grunted while he kept Sunstreaker from trapping him in a head lock. He elbowed the yellow twin's face, getting released so he could scramble back to his feet and commence the fighting.

"Not gonna happen." Sunstreaker growled as they clashed once more, their movements being brusque and violent. Even though they weren't hurting each other too bad, they would never go easy on one another.

The two continued brawling with each other, unknown to them that they were being watched by Jazz and Ashbringer. Sideswipe regained his defiant smirk as he dropped down and swept his legs. The upward curl of his lips disappeared though, when Sunstreaker caught himself by his hands and did some harsh spinning kicks while in a hand-stand, which caused the red twin to stumble back.

"That's such a load of slag...!"

Sunstreaker got back on his feet and was ready to go at his brother again. Instead, the gold mech stopped when he saw Jazz and Ashbringer not too far away from him. He only got to see Jazz raise his hand and wave at him before he got tackled and smashed by the weight of his brother.

"Gotcha!"

Jazz winced, his waving faltering.

"That's gotta hurt.'Specially since he wasn't prepared for it..."Jazz said to the femme. She winced as well, watching as the golden warrior made to push his brother off him with a deep frustrated howl.

"That didn't count, I got distracted!" Sunny growled. Sideswipe only kept rough-housing.

"Iron-shavings! You pull the same slag on me!" Sideswipe said grunting. AshBringer sighed as they kept on, a bit disappointed at the small reaction but then again she couldn't expect much, she didn't quite look herself yet after all.

"Can we please move on?"

Jazz gave a little sigh of disappointment but nodded.

"Let's go spy on Bigbee and Blue" He said smiling reassuringly to her. "Those two shouldn't be as dense as these hard-afts." He said petting her on the head before starting to push her towards the shooting range.

"Bigbee?" she asked raising an optic ridge at him and then shaking her head "that better not be his name now..." Jazz stopped the chair nearby, not too close because of all the noise.

"Naw, he's still Bumblebee." He said chuckling. "Just a little nickname some like to call him since this one time he managed to save our afts. It's not so much for his size as it is his maturity an' big spark." He explained.

"Yes I can see that." she said quickly identifying the yellow mech, he didn't look too different, albeit he had definitely developed more to a soldier's build, but still kept much of his agility.

Bluestreak however had grown quite a bit, and although his body was much rougher now he still held that childish and enthusiastic face of his.

"I'm almost about to pass my high score, Bumblebee! What about you? How's your score coming along? Are you close to beating it like I am? Or are you still working on it? There's still the accuracy scoring so make sure your not shooting everywhere. "Bluestreak was heard saying as he continued shooting fast moving targets.

"I'm getting there." Bumblebee answered, apparently a bit tired by now of Bluestreak's incessant chatter but not being rude about it.

"That's good, but if you're having a hard time, Hound says it's better to at least try raising your average score. Although for me my high score is my average score, not that I'm saying your worse or anything, Bumblebee. I mean it's true that my high score is pretty high but that's just because I'm specialized for sniping. So I don't mean for you to take it personally." Bluestreak jabbered on. Bumblebee then shot his last target and sighed, looking up at his score. It wasn't that bad...

"What do you say we take a little break Bluestreak? We've been at this for hours now... and besides, seems we got a visit" He spoke low, motioning for Jazz and the femme with his head.

Bluestreak turned his head over to the two as he shot his own last target. Jazz smiled and waved at them.

"Hey you two, how's it hangin'?" Jazz said smiling. Bluestreak gave a happy smile and waved back, walking over to the two with Bumblebee.

"Hello, Jazz! I'm happy to see you're doing better. I mean we all are. We were a little worried about you but glad that Ratchet said you'd be okay. We were still worried about you though. Although it is true you've been out of the medbay for almost two weeks now but we haven't really gotten to see you or talk to you since then so we didn't know how you were doing." He said broadening his smile. Jazz gave a chuckle.

"Good to see you too, Blue." Jazz said. Bluestreak looked over to Ashbringer. His expression changed to a curious one as he blinked, tilting his head at her.

"I'm sorry, this might seem strange but you really look familiar, have we met before? I'm pretty sure we have, I just have this gut feeling, you look really familiar but like someone we haven't seen in a long time though. It feels like it's on the tip of my glossa but I just can't place it. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being rude aren't I?" He said not a moment later.

"He's still a chatter box?" the femme asked without any bitterness in her voice for once." Glad to see some things don't change..."

Bumblebee's optic ridges rose a bit, her voice being familiar to him, but for some reason he couldn't quite put his digit on it...

"Course he still talks a lot. That's why he's named Bluestreak." Jazz chuckled gaining a confused look from the grey mech. The young sniper twitched his door wings.

"So we have met before? Okay, that's good. It wasn't just me who thought that. I don't know many femmes though, so I feel kind of bad that I can't tell on the spot who you are. I'm sorry. I'm so close to figuring it out though. You're not that old though and I don't know many femmes that would be your age I don't think..." Bluestreak mused while squinting his optics at her face. She couldn't help but giggle at his expression.

"I'llgiveyaacluebluestreak,I'mnotwearingmytypicalarmour,andInormallywouldn''thaveachoice"

Bumblebee's optics practically came out of their sockets, shortly followed Bluestreak's optics widening as well.

"Primus! AshBringer?" he asked flabbergasted.

"Ashbringer?" Bluestreak said dumbfounded. His optics lit up. "It's really you? It has to be you, I don't know any other femme who can talk as fast as you, so it has to be you. I can't believe it, it's really you! You were the one they rescued with the prisoners? It's been so long, I can't believe how much bigger you've gotten! It's so good to see you again Ashbringer!" He said lighting up even more, his tone nothing short of excitement. Jazz couldn't help but have his own smile broaden.

"Y-yeah...I was in there...I've been holed up at Ratchet's so far, hoping to get all the damage fixed..." she said motioning for her bare arms. "And my armour rebuilt of course..."

"What happened to it?" Bumblebee asked with a slight frown.

"Lost it" she said none nonchalantly, the mech clearly saw the attempt to avoid the subject though and although he wasn't happy about it, he let it pass.

"Are you staying here with us?"

"Unfortunately, no...as soon as I'm all fixed I'm skipping out of here."Jazz felt a pang of remorse as he saw the gunner's wings droop low and give a sad look. It didn't help that he had been feeling the same thing in his spark as well, though it had been pushed back.

"Sorry" she said with a little smile "My place isn't here quite yet...I still have matters to attend to in other places. But I'm getting pretty close, so it shouldn't take as long as it did until now...I hope..."

Bluestreak's sad look still remained even as he gave the femme a soft hug.

"But-but! You only just got here! I've missed you so much and now that you're here you have to go so soon? Can't you stay for a little while at least? I mean, you've been gone for so long..." she blushed a bit at the hug but pat the mech sympathetically over the shoulder.

"I...can't...its really important that I go, I intend to return however...if not at least to get her somewhere safe again..." she muttered the last part a bit more to herself. "But enough about that, I haven't seen you guys for so long! Congratulations Blue, Prime said you were the best sniper around now."

His wings perked up as he pulled away, scratching his head modestly.

"I-I don't know about that. I mean, I have gotten a whole lot better since you left but I wouldn't say the best. I'm sure there are plenty of others who are better then me so yeah."he said giving a shy smile.

"What Prime says goes, so you must be." she then turned to bee "And I also have been hearing about you, Bee, apparently there's nothing but praise about you around this place." The mech in question had a very similar reaction to Bluestreak, his cheek plates blushing slightly.

"I'm just doing my job...and trying to learn the most I can. What about you? What post did you end up in?" the femme froze, clearly caught in a question she would rather not have to answer.

"W-w-well...none actually...I never trained again after I went away, well I did some weird 'training' sessions at the stargazer but I don't know if those count..." she said thoughtfully. While the two young bots in front of her gave confused looks, unaware as to what she was talking about, Jazz's optics widened beneath his visor. A sudden cold feeling having found it's way to his spark despite the benign way the information had been told.

"What did you just say…?" Jazz said walking from his place behind the hover chair so he could see her face. His expression full of concern… "You haven't finished your trainin', Ash...?"

She blinked at him.

"I thought Prime had spoken about this already?" she asked a bit confusedly. "Didn't he? I mean he asked and I gave him permission to tell" She scratched her helm thoughtfully "No I didn't finish, a few weeks after joining Elita's crew I ran away. So obviously I didn't get very far with it." she tilted her head at their expressions "Something wrong?"

Jazz's mouth was in a thin flat line.

"Yeah, I got that much...What I don't get, is that ya didn't pursue your trainin' an' finish it. Especially considerin' the reason you're leaving us in the first place." He said in an even tone. It wasn't a harsh one but it was clear that he wasn't pleased.

"I didn't have any time." she said with a slight frown "Between working on that and my other duties on the ship I barely could do anything else. And Prometheus and Steelbreaker weren't that serious with it anyway so I'd usually take that time off to rest. Most of their training consisted in taking of small barnacles from the exterior of the ship or serving them a nice cup of energon...which I would usually drop on their laps on purpose by the way" she said looking at the ceiling as if recalling the scene. "Other than that...hardly any time for training. Besides it's not like we had any spies in the ship."

He folded his arms. Hearing her talk about how she stayed with them and hadn't returned to the Ark…

"...other duties...Meanin' you were part o' the crew, stayin' with them and not goin' off on your own like ya will, even though technically as part o' our army, ya can't do that. Not that we're stoppin' ya of course. For a little less then 10 vorns. You were doin' that." He shifted his weight to his other pede. She crossed her arms with a huff.

"I'm not yet considered a part of the army since I didn't finish training anyway. Besides, that crew is barely anything like the regular ones. No one had any training, half the time we didn't know what we were doing but we still managed. We were the ones they usually throw away because of lack of talent or promise. Or because our motives weren't supported like mine was." her optics flickered slightly. "It didn't matter if it was some out of reality idea or if it was too risky, we'd do it anyway even without training. And that's basically what I am till today"

"I know that. What I don't get is why you're only now goin' solo. Even if ya are close like ya say. Not only that but it never once occurred to ya that maybe, just maybe, one o' the prime reasons ya haven't gotten what ya wanted yet is because o' your lack of trainin'? That maybe they needed to get better. Ash sparkles, even self-trainin' would've been better. Ya had a lot of freedom in the Stargazer, to do whatcha want on that ship, I know that. So how is it that you couldn't have found the time work on your skills?"

"Two words." she said simply "Conditional Freedom. I was free but I couldn't just do anything I pleased. It's complicated and far too much happened for me to explain it all in one go. As for going solo..." her optics flickered once more. "We were on a mission, but when we heard about the femmes...well… I had to make sure and leave, the others went on their mission, I took a mini shuttle but eventually got destroyed. Then was found in that escape pod" she said purposely skipping what happened between then. "I didn't quite know what I was going to do when I was in the pod, now that I can focus a little better though I made my decision and won't stop going after my sister. And there's no changing my mind on that" she said with a final tone.

"Why are ya close?"

"The last time I confronted my sister I managed to talk to her somewhat...she's been acting even weirder than she did in the beginning. It might be my chance to make her see..." her face then hardened "But what's it to you anyway? You weren't that worried I wouldn't finish training when I went to the femmes." she growled. Jazz quickly felt old guilt start to rise up.

"You're right... I wasn't worried about ya not finishin' because I had confidence ya would finish with the femme contingent. Even after I was told ya ran away I had thought that you had finished with the new crew ya hung out with. Or at least tried to work on it by yourself. That's what ya did when ya were with us sometimes. I believed in you." He said folding his arms. The younger two behind him gave worried looks, not liking where the mood was going.

"You know what? I don't have to explain myself" she said sharply. "I'm going back to the medbay." she turned to the controls on the chair starting it up again.

Before any of the other three mechs in her company could say anything, they heard a rather large crashing sound of metal against metal and a loud howl of frustration. This made the group jerk their heads in the direction of the sounds.

Sunstreaker had just punched his red twin hard in the cheek, and tackled him to the ground, pinning him to the ground by holding his knee to Sideswipe's back. He had the red twin's arm twisted behind him with one hand and pushing his head to the floor with the other. The knee that wasn't pushing down on his back was keeping the red twin's other arm pinned to the floor like the rest of his body.

"NO! Like slag I'm gonna say that! I'm not done yet! I can beat this!" Sideswipe yelled trying to flail and struggle from his brother's hold.

The red femme snorted, relieved it was only that, she turned back to the controls of her chair only to have it jerk like before and fall on the floor loudly, completely inactive. She growled at it pressing the button again to turn it on, nothing happened. She proceeded to press it repeatedly and so rapidly one could barely see her hand.

With the sudden outburst having broken the mech from his heated mood, Jazz just shook his head and sighed, walking up and giving the chair a good kick, the thing jerking once more and started up. Despite the argument that had just occurred, the mech gave her a sympathetic look.

He turned to the younger mechs.

"Kid's out here to have a good time. Not have it ruined or cut short. Make sure to have her back at the medbay in a couple o' hours." He told them as Sideswipe continued to rebel in the background. Jazz gave one last look to the femme before he started to head on out of the training room without a word.

"Frag it all, Sunny! I'm not losing this time! You can say those words yourself!" Sunstreaker seemed to be entertained by his brother's frustration.

"Really? That's not what it sounds like." he said, not looking up even when Jazz passed by them.

"You learned to dance so you could impress and practice with you-know-who! You pretended to have bad dreams so we could cuddle with you-know-who! You went jumping in slag so she could help clean you because you got jealous that she only cleaned me! You let her decorate you in those organic flowers and take pictures of you! HOW'S THAT FOR YOUR ADMITION OF DEFEAT!" Sideswipe spat. Sunstreaker shoved his brother's face further into the floor.

"Deal with it Sideswipe, you're one bad looser." he said triumphantly. Eventually he finally got off of his brother, freeing him. The red twin grumbled and was all pouty.

"That doesn't count as a win, you know. I never said it." He said defiantly to his brother as he achingly got up and stretched his cramped limbs.

"You don't need to say what is plainly obvious" Sunstreaker said with a cocky grin.

"You guys aren't really going to start fighting again are you? Geez, even with gun practice me and Bluestreak could hear you all the time "Bumblebee said from his spot, giving the two a berating look. He hung out with those two a lot, and most of the time it fell to him to control them.

"You bet your aft we are, 'Bee! This fight makes me down by three wins!" Sideswipe huffed looking at the yellow minibot. He cringed at the ache in his arm that had been twisted."...after a short break. But yeah, this sure as the pit ain't over!" He said glaring at his brother.

"You guys really shouldn't overdo it. I mean, I'm not saying you can't handle it and you really are tough but Ratchet really gets mad when you have to go over to get fixed. Well, he get's mad at any-"

"We know, Blue." Sideswipe grumbled waving him off. "True stuff what I said about him, by the way. I got the pictures of him to prove it. He looks like a pwetty widdle femme in all those flowers." He said pretending to have an overly dreamy and sentimental look. Sunstreaker gave his brother a murderous look, successfully shutting him up.

"You two still bicker like idiots over such a thing " the femme said not very amused with the sight. To her, there was a lot of envy towards them, she didn't understand how they could fight one another so much and so violently when they were brothers, part of the same spark. She would never be able to do that to Cliffstrider if she were her normal self...

Sideswipe raised an optic ridge and looked at her with a frown. He opened his mouth, about to spout something back but closed it, his brow furrowing and squinting at Ashbringer.

she sighed, disappointed again at not being recognized.

"It figures..."

Sunstreaker was giving her a similar look.

Bluestreak opened his mouth to say something only for Sideswipe to let out a sound of disbelief. He pointed his finger shakingly at the femme.

"A-ashbringer...!" He sputtered with wide optics. Her optic twitched

"What's with that reaction? Yes, its me. I'm honestly disappointed none of you recognized me right away "she said with a childish whine. Sunsteaker's expression had changed to that of bewilderment, his optics wide as well, although he wasn't manifesting his surprise as boldly as his brother.

_'You don't think she remembers I still owe her for breaking that thingies she found and liked, do you?' _Sideswipe asked through the bond nervously_._

_'that__'__s the first thing you thought about? I mean look at her..._' he tried to recompose himself

"Well its a bit hard to recognize you without your battle armour...plus...you're on a hover chair, what the frag happened?"

Almost immediately the femme's face went sombre to a point the four took a step back in fright.

"Y-you know what? Why don't we head for the rec room? It's much nicer there and we could all use with a cube of energon right?" Bumblebee tried to brighten the mood. It was enough to snap her out of that state, and the four couldn't help but let out a breath of relief when she answered.

"Sure."


End file.
